Fourth
Quarter
Adult Division, No.- 302, Fourth Quarter, 1970
Lesson Titles for the Quarter
1.
The Restoration of Man
2.
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
3.
How Adventists Became Health-minded
4.
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
5.
Inspired Health Counsels
6.
God's Healing Remedies
7.
The Mental Outlook
8.
Broad Aspects of Temperance
9.
The Appetite and Health
10.
The Appetite and Character Development
11.
Health and Family Life
12.
The Home and Child Guidance
13.
Source of Healing Power
Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly (regular edition), No. 302, October-December, 1970. 30 cents a
single copy, $1.20 a year (four issues) ; no additional charge to countries requiring extra postage.
Published in the U.S.A. by Pacific Press Publishing Association (a corporation of S.D.A.), 1350
Villa Street, Mountain View, California 94040. Second-class mail privileges authorized at Mountain
View, California. Form 3579 requested. When a change of address is desired, please be sure to send
both old and new addresses.
Copyright, 1970, by Pacific Press Publishing Association
Cover photo by D. Tank
Drawings by Vance Locke
The Blessing of Daily Study
"He who by faith receives the Word is receiving the
very life and character of God. Every seed brings forth
fruit after its kind. . . . Receive into the soul by faith the
incorruptible seed of the Word, and it will bring forth a
character and a life after the similitude of the character
and the life of
God."—Christ's Object Lessons,
page 38.
"Appreciation of the Bible grows with its study."—
Ibid.,
p. 132.
"God will make the most precious revelaions to His
hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is
a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His Word, they
find that it is spirit and life. The Word destroys the
natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ
Jesus
."—The Desire of Ages,
page 391.
"The neglect of the Word means starvation to the soul."
—Counsels on Sabbath School Work,
page 44.
My Pledge
As one who greatly desires to improve his knowledge
of the Scriptures, I pledge myself to the careful and prayer-
ful study of some portion of my Sabbath School lesson each
day of the week.
(signed)
3
To Make Man WhoIle
FOURTH QUARTER, 1970
"When Adam came from the Creator's hand, he bore, in his physical,
mental, and spiritual nature,- a likeness to his Maker. 'God created man in
His own image' (Genesis 1:27), and it was His purpose that the longer man
lived the more fully he should reveal this image—the more fully reflect the
glory of the Creator. . . . Throughout eternal ages he would have continued
to gain new treasures of knowledge, to discover fresh springs of happiness,
and to obtain clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the wisdom, the power,
and the love of God. More and more fully would he have fulfilled the object
of his creation, more and more fully have reflected the Creator's glory.
"But by disobedience this was forfeited. Through sin the divine likeness
was marred, and well-nigh obliterated. Man's physical powers were weak-
ened, his mental capacity was lessened, his spiritual vision dimmed. He had
become subject to death. Yet the race was not left without hope. By infinite
love and mercy the plan of salvation had been devised, and a life of proba-
tion was granted. To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him
back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development
of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be
realized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is . . . the great object
of
life."—Education,
pages 15, 16.
4
LESSON 1
THE RESTORATION OF MAN
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that who-
soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
"The very essence of the gospel is res-
toration."—The
Desire of Ages,
page 824.
At the heart of John 3:16 is the idea that
God will restore to man what he had lost
through sin.
The meaning of "restoration" is to bring
back to a former or original condition.
Through the gospel the Lord brings sin-
ning, weak man back to his sinless state.
As we study God's Word this quarter we
shall see how Christ "the Restorer"
(The
Desire of Ages,
page 622) cleanses man from
the defilement of sin
(The Ministry of
Healing,
page 451) and by virtue of His
atonement restores him to his unfallen
Adamic state.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Original State of Man
Gen. 1:27, 31
2.
Man's Moral Fall
Gen. 3:6
3.
The Curses Pronounced
Gen. 3:16, 17
4.
Promise of a Saviour
Gen. 3:15
Rom. 5:12, 20
5.
Jesus' Mission—to Restore
Luke 19:10
Matt. 20:28
Rom. 5:8
6.
Dimension of Restoration
Acts 3:20, 21
5
The Restoration of
Man
LESSON 1
Sunday
September 27
Part 1
"So God created man in His own image, in the image
ORIGINAL STATE of God created He him; male and female created He
OF MAN them."
"And God saw everything that He had made, and,
Gen. 1:27, 31 behold, it was very good."
Adam and Eve, the original man and woman, were created
in the image of God. All human life derives from them, but
the moral character of Adam's descendants is unlike the orig-
inal character of the first man. Innocent and holy, our first
parents had "noble traits of character, with no bias toward
evil."—Patriarchs and Prophets,
page 49. They were capable
of growth and development in every sense.
Adam and his beautiful companion were free moral agents
but not immortal. Before they could be granted the gift of an
immortal life their loyalty to God must be tested, and this
test God accomplished through the tree of knowledge of good
and evil.
Think of the original state of the first human pair:
Physically:
"He [Adam] was more than twice as tall as
men now living upon the earth, and was well proportioned.
. . . His complexion was neither white, nor sallow, but ruddy,
glowing with the rich tint of health. Eve was not quite as tall
as Adam. Her head reached a little above his shoulders."—Spir-
itual
Gifts,
Vol. 3, p. 34.
Spiritual
y:
Ellen White wrote of "dignified Adam" in Eden
with a "halo of glory . . . covering him as a
garment."—Se-
lected Messages,
Bk. 1, p. 270. "He was without the taint of
sin. He stood in the strength of his perfection before God. All
the organs and faculties of his being were equally developed,
and harmoniously balanced."—Ibid., p. 267.
Mentally:
"Man came from the hand of God perfect in
every faculty of mind and
body."—Testimonies,
Vol. 4, p. 29.
But he was capable of mental expansion, a new and distinct
order of being (see Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Com-
mentary,
Vol. 1, p. 1081), "with a power akin to that of the
Creator—individuality, power to think and to
do."—Education,
page 17.
What was God's appraisal of His own creation includ-
ing Adam and Eve?
THINK IT THROUGH
Did God "take a chance" when He created Adam and
Eve as free moral agents? Was there really a great risk?
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
"Patriarchs and Prophets," pages
44-51; "Spiritual Gifts," Vol. 3, pp. 33-35.
6
The Restoration of Man
LESSON 1
Part 2
MAN'S
MORAL FALL
Gen. 3:6
Monday
September 28
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat."
One Christmas Day a hiking party discovered a natural falls
which tumbled over a smooth rock surface down a precipitous,
slippery stone face. A young man in the group, challenged by
the danger, straddled the narrow current of water. His friends
had warned him of the peril, but the excitement of his dan-
gerous position fascinated him. Then, suddenly he lost his
balance and slid down to the rocks below.
As soon as his friends could reach him they removed his
broken body from the rocky shelf. He regained momentary
consciousness but died seven days later.
Eve knew when she approached the tree of knowledge of
good and evil that she was on slippery, dangerous ground. This
tree was "off limits" to Adam and his wife. But there was
something hypnotic about the whole adventure. For one thing
it was a new and unnatural experience. (In
Testimonies,
Vol.
8, p. 291, our condition 'through sin is called "preternatural"
—unnatural.) Think of how many people get into trouble for
the thrill of trying something tantalizingly new.
But think soberly now about the
results
of one experiment
—Adam's sin. "In Adam
all
die." 1 Cor. 15:22. "All have
sinned." Rom. 5:12. And "the wages of sin is death." Rom.
6:23. Like Adam, we have all taken "the plunge."
Was sin an invention of the Creator or the creature?
Eccl. 7:29.
"Whatever evil may be now found among men and women,
it is not of God; for God made them all upright."—Clarke's
Commentary,
on Eccl. 7:29. The "strange uses and shameful
abuses" man has made of his physical, mental, and spiritual
powers in the millenniums that have followed Eden are evi-
dences of man's moral fall. There is no evidence of growth of
any kind except through the restorative gospel of Jesus Christ.
THINK IT THROUGH
Compare definitions: (1) preternatural; (2) supernat-
ural. Why is supernatural power required to restore us
from the defilement of sin?
"Our condition through sin has be-
come preternatural, and the power that
restores us must be supernatural, else
it has no value. There is but one power
that can break the hold of evil from
the hearts of men, and that is the
power of God in Jesus Christ. Only
through the blood of the Crucified One
is there cleansing from sin."—"Testi-
monies," Vol. 8, p. 291.
"Man was originally endowed with
noble powers and a well-balanced
mind. He was perfect in his being, and
in harmony with God. His thoughts
were pure, his aims holy. But through
disobedience, his powers were per-
verted, and selfishness took the place
of love."—"Steps to Christ," page 17.
Read the rest of the chapter, "The Sin-
ner's Need of Christ."
7
Part 3
THE CURSES
PRONOUNCED
Gen. 3:16, 17
Tuesday
September
29
"Unto the woman he said, . . . In sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy hus-
band, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he
said, ... Cursed is the ground for thy sake."
A number of curses resulted from man's moral fall. Before
the Flood,
"A heavy, double curse,
first in consequence of Adam's
transgression, and second, because of the murder committed by
Cain, was resting upon the
earth."
Spiritual Gifts,
Vol. 3, pp.
61, 62. (Italics supplied.)
"The whole surface of the earth was changed at the Flood.
A third dreadful curse
now rested upon it in consequence of
man's transgression."—Ibid., p. 76. (Italics supplied.)
Notice, a curse rested upon the earth or "the ground" for
man's sake. God's curse rested upon the serpent: "Thou art
cursed." Gen. 3:14. The Noachian flood inundated the world
and defaced it. Gen. 7:19, 21-24; 2 Peter 2:5.
The man and woman were not cursed;
but for their sakes,
that they might observe the results of sin and turn from it, God
permitted His judgments to come.
Upon the woman rested a heavy punishment—pain in child-
bearing and every discomfort identified with it. Yet the world
would be saved from sin by a Son born to a woman.
The inevitable curse or result of sin is death—the wages of
sin. Satan promised life as the result of sin. Adam and Eve
suffered death in consequence. Satan said, "Ye shall not surely
die." God said they would die, and they did. Finally, there is
the second death and eternal separation from God, all the result
of sin.
The Restoration of Man
LESSON 1
What did the wise man say about the coming of a
curse? Prov. 26:2.
THINK IT THROUGH
God's saints who share in the eternal life made pos-
sible by the gospel also pass under the shadow of death
that covers this world. Why?
"And the life of toil and care which
was henceforth to be man's lot was
appointed in love. It was a discipline
rendered needful by his
sin,
to place a
check upon the indulgence of appetite
and passion, to develop habits of self-
control. It was a part of God's great
plan for man's recovery from the ruin
and degradation of sin."—"Patriarchs
and Prophets," page 60.
"The sin of man has brought the sure
result,—decay, deformity, and death.
8
Today the whole world is tainted, cor-
rupted, stricken with mortal disease.
The earth groaneth under the continual
transgression of the inhabitants there-
of. . . .
"As transgression becomes almost
universal the curse will be permitted
to become as broad and as deep as the
transgression."—Ellen G. White Com-
ments, "SDA Bible Commentary," Vol.
1, p. 1085.
The Restoration of Man
LESSON 1
Part 4
PROMISE OF
A SAVIOUR
Gen. 3:15
Rom. 5:12, 20
THINK IT THROUGH
Wednesday
September 30
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned."
"But where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound."
"Death spread to all men because all men sinned," is the
RSV rendering of part of Rom. 5:12. Phillips translates the last
part of verse 20, "Though sin is shown to be wide and deep,
thank God His grace is wider and deeper still!"
With the curse pronounced upon Satan is the prediction of
complete restoration through the coming of Christ the De-
liverer. The restoration of many to God's favor and to His
moral likeness would entail a fierce struggle between the ser-
pent's seed (Satan's followers) and the woman's seed (Christ
and His people) united against the hosts of evil.
The serpent's head was to be bruised—crushed—while the
heel of Christ would be wounded. Since the head is more vul-
nerable than the heel, and more vital, it is seen that the judg-
ment upon Satan will be conclusive.
Jesus' death on the cross—where His "heel" was "bruised"
—was not permanent. His resurrection was to eternal life. Sa-
tan's death will be for eternity. He is destroyed finally and
utterly in the lake of fire. Said Paul, "And the God of peace
shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." Rom. 16:20. "Crush
Satan under your feet." Weymouth.
Malachi declares that "root" and "branch" shall be burned
up—Satan and his seed. And the wicked shall be ashes under
the feet of God's saints in that day. Mal. 4:3. The restoration
will be complete with the creation of new heavens and a new
earth.
Is the provision for our restoration from sin adequate?
Rom. 5:20, last part. (See Rom. 5:15, 17.)
Was God prepared or caught off guard when sin en-
tered the world? What is the best argument against the
complaints: "I didn't choose to live in this vale of tears";
"I had nothing to do with my birth"?
"As
soon as there was sin, there was
a Saviour. Christ knew that He would
have to suffer, yet He became man's
substitute. As soon as Adam sinned,
the Son of God presented Himself as
surety for the human race, with just as
2—A4Qt70
much power to avert the doom pro-
nounced upon the guilty as when He
died upon the cross of Calvary."—Ellen
G. White Comments, "SDA Bible Com-
mentary," Vol. 1, p. 1084.
9
The Restoration of Man
LESSON 1
Thursday
October 1
THINK IT THROUGH
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost."
"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many."
"But God commendeth His love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
During World War II an airman was adrift on the broad
Pacific in a little rubber raft. When finally rescued, he explained,
"The thing that kept me from giving up was the knowledge
that someone was searching for me."
The mission of Jesus to our world was a
searching
mission.
He came to seek and to save those lost in sin.
That which distinguished Jesus' earthly mission was His
redemptive work. At the center of Christ's redemptive service
was the cross. Important, of course, are the incarnation, the
resurrection, the sinless life, the ascension, the intercessory
priesthood, the second advent; but the cross is the glorious
heartbeat of it all! All physical, mental, and spiritual restora-
tion is made possible because Jesus died for us, because a com-
plete atonement was made for our sins.
Our Lord's final words on Calvary's cross, "It is finished,"
announced to the world that the restoration of man was now
reality. Jesus had conquered the human sin problem. Every act
of restoration in Jesus' ministry was subordinate to the cross.
' Now let us think of the fullness of Jesus' earthly ministry of
restoration for humanity.
The records of the four Gospels reveal that He restored sight
to the blind, hearing to the deaf, strength of limb to the crip-
pled, health and cleanness to lepers, sanity to the insane, life
to the dead, hope and grace to the hopeless, innocence to guilty
sinners, joy to the brokenhearted, knowledge of divine truth to
the ignorant and uninformed. In short, Jesus' ministry on earth
implemented the complete recovery of man,
made man whole!
How did Jesus summarize His life's goal?
Which brings greater satisfaction and happiness—to be
ministered unto or to minister to others? Is it by living or
by dying to sin that we experience life?
Part 5
JESUS' MISSION—
TO RESTORE
Luke 19:10
Matt. 20:28
Rom. 5:8
"To the death of Christ we owe even
this earthly life. The bread we eat is
the purchase of His broken body. The
water we drink is bought by His spilled
blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats
his daily food, but he is nourished by
the body and the blood of Christ. The
cross of Calvary is stamped on every
loaf. It is reflected in every water
10
spring."—"The Desire of Ages," page
660.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this
world as the unwearied servant of
man's necessity.. . . It was His mission
to bring to men complete restoration;
He came to give them health and peace
and perfection of character."—"The
Ministry of Healing," page 17.
The Restoration of Man
LESSON 1
Friday
October 2
Part 6
DIMENSION OF
RESTORATION
Acts 3:20, 21
THINK IT THROUGH
"He shall send Jesus Christ . . . : whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began."
The New English Bible (also Phillips) describes the time
of "universal restoration." This period begins when Jesus
returns. Then our sins will have been all wiped out.
Peter said, "God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him
to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniq-
uities." Acts 3:26. The blessing of God consists in turning us
away
from
our iniquities. The blessing of God assumes its
highest form in saving man from his "evil ways" (Phillips)
—from the evil deeds done in the body which bring disease and
death. Keep this in mind the next time you say to someone,
"God
bless
you."
Paul labored to "present every man perfeCt in Christ." Col.
1:28. "If possible," he said, "we may bring every man up to
his full maturity in Christ." Phillips.
"As the sacrifice in our behalf was complete, so our restora-
tion from the defilement of sin is to be complete. No act of
wickedness will the law of God excuse; no unrighteousness can
escape its condemnation. The ethics of the gospel acknowledge
no standard but the perfection of the divine character. The
life of Christ was a perfect fulfillment of every precept of the
law. He said, 'I have kept My Father's commandments.' His life
is our example of obedience and service."—The
Ministry of
Healing,
pages 451, 452.
The dimensions of restoration will be complete enough to
have purged man from sin's guilt, to have broken sin's power
in the body as well as the mind, emancipated man from sin's
very existence and its morbid consequences. As time merges
into God's eternity, in the very nature of things sin will be
forgotten. And "affliction shall not rise up the second time."
Nahum 1:9.
What is included in the restitution or restoration? How
complete will the restitution be?
Could God have done more to effect the restoration of
the fallen human race? Who has suffered more as the
result of the sin experience—man or God?
"When Satan is destroyed, there will
be none to tempt to evil; the atone-
ment will never need to be repeated;
and there will be no danger of another
rebellion in the universe of God. . . .
"The plan of salvation, making mani-
fest the justice and love of God, pro-
vides an eternal safeguard against de-
fection in unfallen worlds, as well as
among those who shall be redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. . . . The
death of Christ on the cross of Calvary
is our only hope in this world, and it
will be our theme in the world to come.
Oh, we do not comprehend the value
of the atonement! If we did, we would
talk more about it."—Ellen G. White
Comments, "SDA Bible Commentary,"
Vol. 5, p. 1132.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: "Prophets and
Kings," pages 677, 678, 298, 426; "The
Great Controversy," page 504.
11
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church, Christ, Satan, Satan, Christ. (5) false (to save sinners). (6) to see Christ and God? loved
ones?
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October 10
LESSON 2
MAN, A THREE-DIMENSIONAL BEING
2
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it." 1 Thess. 5:23, 24.
The sanctification of man is a "unit"
growth of all parts of the whole being de-
veloping simultaneously and soundly, each
part acting and interacting favorably on the
other parts of man's entire being.
"Spirit" doubtless means the mind—man's
intelligence and thought processes, through
which the Holy Spirit and the sanctifying
power of the Word of God operate. Al-
though Christianity changes man's nature
and provides him with a new heart, it does
not provide him with new faculties. "Man
is not endowed with new faculties, but the
faculties he has are sanctified."—Christ's
Object Lessons,
page 99.
"By 'soul' . . . may be understood that
part of a man's nature that finds expres-
sion through the instincts, emotions, and
desires."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on
1 Thess.
5:23.
These instincts and emotions
must be brought under the control of rea-
son and sanctified by divine grace.
The word "body" allows of no misun-
derstanding. Here the flesh, blood, and
bones of the man are meant—"the corpo-
real frame." Either the higher or lower
nature of man will control the body. Hu-
man beings become slaves to sin more on
this physical level than on any other.
"We need sanctification, soul, body, and
spirit. This we must seek for."—Ellen G.
White Comments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 3, p. 1143.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
SDA Bible
Commentary,
Vol. 3, p. 1143 ;
Christ's Ob-
ject Lessons,
pages 98, 99;
Prophets and
Kings,
page 233.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Unhappy Condition of Sinners
Isa. 1:5, 6
2.
Happy Condition of Saints
Matt. 5:6
Mark 12:30, 31
3.
New Life in the Body
1 Cor. 6:19, 20
4.
Harmony of Man's Being
Ps. 139:14, 15
5.
Physical World Under Law
Ps. 119:90, 91
6.
Lament Over Ignorance
Hosea 4:6
13
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Sunday
October 4
Part 1
UNHAPPY
CONDITION
OF SINNERS
Isa. 1:5, 6
THINK IT THROUGH
"Why should ye be stricken anymore? ye will revolt
more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole
heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head
there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and
putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment."
"Sin is a loathsome thing that defies human remedies. It
produces, as it were, a mass of infected, open sores filled with
purulent matter and neither bandaged nor treated with 'oint-
ment.'
"—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Isa. 1:6.
The charm and glamour of sin disappear after a time. Then
there is the painful result of sin to experience and the inevi-
table awakening—the realization that the sinner's life has been
lived in a fool's paradise. The drunkard, the dope addict, the
playboy, walk on the devil's enchanted ground—strangers to
genuine happiness. The highest exercise of man's mind is to
know and to enjoy God. See Deut. 28:1-14; Ps. 107:43.
Happiness is "such and such a thing" or "such and such a
state." We hear numerous definitions. But what is happiness?
See
Testimonies,
Vol. 2, p. 132;
Messages to Young People,
page
210. Certainly happiness is not sin, or the result of sin. Esau,
for example, "bent on self-indulgence, . . . desired nothing so
much as liberty to do as he pleased. To him power and riches,
feasting and reveling, were happiness. He gloried in the un-
restrained freedom of his wild, roving
life."—Patriarchs and
Prophets,
page 178. How many today are like that! Esau
wanted to do exactly as he pleased.
Years ago while speaking to a group of Adventists in the
large church in College View, Nebraska, Ellen White said with
deep feeling, "Oh, brethren and sisters, if we only realized that
we cannot now do just what we want to do." Then she added
with deep earnestness, "We have a heaven to win and a hell
to shun." But so many people want to do as they please—not
as God pleases.
Adventists are to be like Enoch, who, before he was trans-
lated, "had this testimony, that he pleased God." Heb. 11:5.
In what language did Isaiah describe the unhappy
state of Israel and the effect of sin upon human nature?
Should we seek happiness for ourselves? If not, why
not? What should we seek?
"By their sins the professed people
of God [ancient Israel] had brought
woe upon themselves. The deeper they
went into sin, •the greater the weight
of woe they took upon themselves (see
ch. 5:18). Isaiah endeavored to reason
with them, asking why they chose to
14
pursue so foolish a course of action.
The picture is of a persistently rebel-
lious son who has suffered beating after
beating for his misdeeds until his en-
tire body is lacerated."—"SDA Bible
Commentary," on Isa. 1:5.
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Monday
October 5
Part 2
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
HAPPY righteousness: for they shall be filled."
CONDITION
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
OF SAINTS heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And
Matt. 5:6 the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neigh-
Mark 12:30,31
bor as thyself."
"How blest are those who hunger and thirst to see right
prevail [or "to do what is right," margin] ; they shall be satis-
fied." Matt. 5:6, NEB.
"To do what is right"—this is righteousness. All God's com-
mandments are righteousness, and love for God and love for
man (Mark 12:30, 31) are the prompting forces.
"The love of Christ," said Paul, "constraineth ["controls,"
RSV] us." 2 Cor. 5:14. This was the actuating principle of his
ministry—his motive power. "The very spring of our actions
is the love of Christ." Phillips.
Even "the physical powers are to be brought into service
from love to God," wrote Ellen White. "The Lord wants the
physical strength, and you can reveal your love for Him by the
right use of your physical powers, doing the very work which
needs to be done....
"God desires the love that is expressed in heart-service, in
soul-service, in the service of the physical powers. We are not
to be dwarfed in any kind of service for
God."—Fundamentals
of Christian Education,
pages 314, 315.
It is the man who seeks to do what is right in God's sight
who is most likely to be happy and healthy. The love of Christ
in his heart prompts action of the right sort. Love yields a
healthy function and state of mind, body, and soul. Love is a
healing current that pours through the whole being of man
resulting in a pulsating life filled with proper activities and
leaving the healing touch and blessing on every act.
It is not an exaggeration to say that most of the world's
emotional and temperamental afflictions could be healed by
Christ's love in the heart bringing happiness and thus markedly
decreasing the physical and emotional ailments of men.
How great is the dimension of love's service?
THINK IT THROUGH
Is Christian life or service possible apart from love
to God and man?
"'For to me to live is Christ,'
he
[Paul] declared. This is the most perfect
interpretation in a few words, in all
the Scriptures, of what it means to be
a Christian. This is the whole truth of
the gospel."—Ellen G. White Comments,
"SDA Bible Commentary," Vol. 7, p.
903.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: "Messages to
Young People," pages 363, 364; "SDA
Bible Commentary," Vol. 7, p. 903;
"The Desire of Ages," pages 308, 92.
15
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Tuesday
October 6
THINK IT THROUGH
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,
and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's."
The body is a living temple delicately arranged and bal-
anced, with hundreds of intricate, pulsating parts working in
unison—a beautiful, throbbing testimony to the wisdom of the
Creator. When the body is healthy and every part is working
in harmony, it becomes a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.
It is not unreasonable for God to speak to us and say,
"Glorify Me in your body. In eating and drinking and what-
ever you do, do it to My glory" (see 1 Cor. 10:31), for the
body temple is His.
The body temple can be desecrated too—by smoking or
drinking, by the use of LSD and pot, or by impurity of any
kind. Indeed, it is in the context of spiritual and physical adul-
tery that our text (1 Cor. 6:19, 20) was written. Read also
verses 15-18. In Romans 1:24-27 Paul deplores the perversion
of the natural, physical powers. Those who destroy the body
temple by sinful vices will be destroyed by the temple Builder.
1 Cor. 3:17.
A Sabbath School teacher was speaking to a group of juniors
on the subject of "physical morality." He concluded his speech
by asking the youngsters if they would like to give their hearts
to Jesus. Every hand went up. "Would you like to give your
body to your Creator to be used as the dwelling place of His
Spirit?" Yes, all were willing to do this. "Are you willing to
let Jesus control every organ of your body including your
stomachs?" Every hand was raised, except Billy's. "Aren't you
going to surrender your stomach to Jesus," said the teacher.
"No," he said firmly, "I want my stomach for myself."
"Our bodies are Christ's purchased property, and we are not
at liberty to do with them as we please.. .
"When men and women are truly converted, they will con-
scientiously regard the laws of life that God has established
in their being, thus seeking to avoid physical, mental, and
moral feebleness. Obedience to these laws must be made a mat-
ter of personal
duty."—Testimonies,
Vol. 6, p. 369.
What is one of the strongest inducements for glorify-
ing God in our bodies?
What personal habits do I indulge to the detriment of
my physical health? Can I escape the consequences of
wrong physical habits—do I live a charmed life?
Part 3
NEW LIFE IN
THE BODY
1 Cor. 6:19, 20
"If lasciviousness, pollution, adultery,
crime, and murder are the order of the
day among those who know not the
truth, and who refuse to be controlled
by the principles of God's Word, how
important that the class professing to
be followers of Christ, closely allied to
16
God and angels, should show them a
better and nobler way. How important
that by their chastity and virtue they
stand in marked contrast to that class
who are controlled by brute passions."
—"Testimonies," Vol. 2, p. 459.
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Wednesday
October 7
THINK IT THROUGH
"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul know-
eth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when
I
was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth."
In the beginning the Creator pronounced Adam "very good."
Gen. 1:31. In every aspect of Adam's being this was so. The
divine purpose in re-creating fallen man is to restore him to
soundness and harmony in his
whole
being. The gospel of Jesus
Christ makes man whole—"very good," as in the beginning.
Health depends upon harmonious action of the many work-
ing parts of man's body. See
Education,
page 198;
Counsels
on Health,
page 587;
Medical Ministry,
page 296.
Note the condition of some: "The
body
is allowed to be
inactive, the nerves of
emotion
are taxed, while the nerves of
motion are inactive."—Testimonies,
Vol. 3, p. 490. (Italics sup-
plied.)
A man who tunes pianos all the time and does nothing else
but listen to vibrating strings may overwork a delicate portion
of his nervous system and brain. Perfect health depends upon
balanced, uniform function of
all
parts and faculties.
The psalmist acclaimed the Creator for His magnificent
creation—the intricately designed and fashioned human being,
with the brain, nerves, muscles, bones, heart, lungs, and deli-
cate glands all acting and interacting harmoniously.
Even the largest and most sophisticated computers are only
metal machines, while man is a living, integrated being with
power to think and act and feel and function as a rational,
self-sufficient creation of God.
The detached person with schizophrenic tendencies may find
healing in Christ. He may learn also how to cooperate with God
by exercising
all
of his mental faculties and physical powers.
He may be literally drawn together again.
Does our text favor the creationist view of man or the
evolutionary hypothesis?
If God could design and build a perfectly integrated
man with body, mind, and soul functioning in unison,
can He not also plan my life according to His own perfect
design?
Part 4
HARMONY OF
MAN'S BEING
Ps. 139:14, 15
"As an architect draws out his plan
and prepares his specifications for a
new dwelling, so God plans what each
individual will become even before
that soul is born into the world. It is
for the individual to decide whether
3—A4Qt70
he will follow the divine blueprint or
not."—"SDA Bible Commentary," on Ps.
139:16.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: "Testimonies,"
Vol. 6, pp. 375, 376; "Education,"
pages 200, 201.
17
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Thursday
October 8
Part 5
PHYSICAL WORLD
UNDER LAW
Ps. 119:90, 91
THINK IT THROUGH
"Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: Thou hast
established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this
day according to Thine ordinances: for all are Thy ser-
vants."
"Heaven and earth obey the decrees of their Creator. From
the mightiest creature to the minutest insect, from the largest
sun to the smallest atom, all are obedient to the Omnipotent
God."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on Ps. 119:91.
The airplane flies because obedient to the laws of aerody-
namics and certain laws of motion. What is true in the inani-
mate world is likewise true in the biological world—divine laws
function smoothly at the level of obedience. In the physical
being of man divine laws are written on every tissue and fiber
of the body and the brain. Christians should acquaint them-
selves with these laws, which are just as sacred as the Ten Com-
mandments. These laws were made to be obeyed. Ponder the
following guidelines of health: Live in the fresh air as much
as possible. Take active physical exercise. Provide sufficient rest
in bed nightly. Get out in the sunshine every day whenever
possible. Eat and drink for strength and health. Watch your
posture—sit and stand erect. Be clean in your thoughts and
physical habits. Dress healthfully and sensibly. Have one day
for recreation every week. Think vigorously and positively
every day. And trust in God.
Much more attention needs to be given to health than many
think. The human body is not indestructible. It has marked
limitations. Hard work will not be harmful—not nearly as
harmful as worry, fear, and guilt—but it is possible to wear
out by overdoing and drawing upon future reserves of vital
energy. Conserve your nervous, emotional, and physical re-
sources for a "rainy day." Use your powers in an intelligent
manner, keeping them active but not depleting them.
What is the earth said to be?
Have you developed a conscious sense of "physical
morality"?
"God is as truly the author of physi-
cal laws as He is the author of the
moral law. His law is written with His
own finger upon every nerve, every
muscle, every faculty, which has been
entrusted to man."—"Christ's Object Les-
sons," pages 347, 348.
"The Creator of man has arranged
the living machinery of our bodies. Ev-
ery function is wonderfully and wisely
18
made. And God pledged Himself to
keep this human machinery in health-
ful action if the human agent will obey
His laws and cooperate with God."—
"Counsels on Diet and Foods," page 17.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: "The Ministry
of Healing," pages 113, 417; "Coun-
sels on Diet and Foods," page 17
;
"Testimonies," Vol. 8, pp. 259, 260.
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
Friday
October 9
THINK IT THROUGH
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: be-
cause thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject
thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast
forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy chil-
dren."
Literally, Hosea is saying, "for lack of
the
knowledge."
"The particular knowledge that is missing is the knowledge
of God, the most essential of all knowledge. . . They might
have had the knowledge had they put forth the effort to obtain
it. Men are held responsible not only for what they know
(John 9:41; 15:22, 24; James 4:17), but also for what they
might have known had they put forth the effort to obtain essen-
tial knowledge (cf. 2 Peter
3:5)."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Hosea 4:6.
This missing knowledge includes information provided by
the Creator and by science concerning
how to live.
Many are
willfully ignorant of the laws of health and regard them with
amused scorn, thinking that they can transgress nature's phys-
ical code with impunity—and squeak through!
"When persons are spoken to on the subject of health," wrote
Ellen White, "they often say: 'We know a great deal better
than we do.' They do not realize that they are accountable for
every ray of light in regard to their physical well-being, and
that their every habit is open to the inspection of
God."—Tes-
timonies,
Vol. 6, p. 372.
"Multitudes are perishing for lack of knowledge," she wrote.
Counsels to Teachers,
page 467. This death toll is related among
other things to poor diet. In 1890 Mrs. White declared that
"the diet materially affects the mind and disposition."—The
Adventist Home,
page 252.
Medical science has shown that there is a parallel between
malnutrition and crime. Children and youth who are malnour-
ished have a higher crime rate than do those who are ade-
quately nourished.
What is the cause of much of the world's misery?
Is the destruction mentioned in our text self-inflicted?
A divine judgment? The outworking of cause and effect?
The attacks of Satan?
Part 6
LAMENT OVER
IGNORANCE
Hosea 4:6
"Never has the world's need for
teaching and healing been greater than
it is today. The world is full of those
who need to be ministered unto—the
weak, the helpless, the ignorant, the
degraded. The continual transgression
of man for nearly six thousand years
has brought sickness, pain, and death
as its fruit."—"Counsels to Teachers,"
page 467.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: "Prophets and
Kings," page 297.
19
Man, a Three-dimensional Being
LESSON 2
October 10
Part 7
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
1. Do Isaiah's blunt words (Isa. 1:5, 6) have a wider
meaning, or is his uncomplimentary language limited
only to ancient Israel)
2. True or False:
a.
Happiness should be the prime goal of every in-
telligent human being
b.
Members of the Adventist Church should be the
happiest people on earth
3. "Whether therefore ye
,
or
or
ye do, do all to the
of God."
1 Cor. 10:31.
4. True or False:
a.
The purpose of the gospel is to make men whole.
b.
Health depends solely upon right thinking
5. List at least five commandments of health that you
think of great importance.
1
2
3
4
5
6.
a.
Why are God's people destroyed?
b.
Why is ignorance of divine law inexcusable?
ANSWERS:
•depot Apocpiiana diaeau jo ss000e
ujcojan. si a2poltnousi 1.pFaH
:92paintou31 jo
3pei
Joa •e (g) •slantsue snopen (g) •asie;
:mu; •e
(t) •daoiS .ionaos;etint `nupp '455 (r) •ana; q !asjej a (z) •ate due vi aauujs atp o;—sad (j)
20
October 17
‘1;
k
t
HOW ADVENTISTS BECAME HEALTH-MINDED
3
LESSON 3
The story of how Adventists became
health-minded is a remarkable account of
providential leading through the gift of
prophecy. The church came to accept and
advocate the principles of healthful living
at a time when most of the world was in
gross ignorance on the subject.
The late Dr. Clive McCay wrote in the
Review and Herald
of February 12, 1959:
"Health has been a matter of little in-
dividual concern to most people in our
nation during its whole history. Among the
170 million people in America today [19581
there are probably not more than 10 mil-
lion who are willing to devote substantial
thought and self-discipline to maintain
healthy bodies. Only after they have lost
their health are most people willing to give
any attention to the care of their bodies."
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Advent Movement in Prophecy
Rev. 14:12
2.
Prophecy in the Advent Movement
Joel 2:28, 29
3.
Prophetic Guidance in Healthful
Living
4.
The 1863 Health Vision
5.
Early Adventist Vital Statistics
6.
Health Teaching in the Church
21
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Part 1
ADVENT MOVEMENT
IN PROPHECY
Rev. 14:12
THINK IT THROUGH
Sunday
October 11
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
Read verses 6-14.
The advent movement is described prophetically in Rev.
14:6-14 along with the unique threefold message it proclaims.
The angelic messengers represent the remnant people engaged
in preaching and teaching the everlasting gospel in the setting
of the judgment-hour message. "With a loud voice" the "pres-
ent truth" is given on an international scale, timely and perti-
nent to the needs of men in the last days. The work is prepara-
tory—Christ is coming again as the long-awaited King.
The prophecy of Rev. 14:6-12 and also Isa. 58:12-14 brings
to view a church which keeps the commandments of God—
including the Bible Sabbath.
The message calls upon all to keep God's commandments.
And without obedience to God's commandments, no worship
can be pleasing to God. Obedience accompanies "the faith of
Jesus." Rev. 14:12. It is a timely message, for Isaiah speaking
of the last days writes: "The earth lies polluted under its in-
habitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the
statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse
devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt."
Isa. 24:5, 6, RSV.
How does the revelator picture a latter-day reforma-
tory movement?
Adventists hold the belief that they have been called
by God to keep His holy law and to give the last warn-
ing message. Is this the result of: (1) private interpreta-
tion of Scripture? (2) pride? (3) bigotry? (4) divine provi-
dence? (5) the actual demands of Bible prophecy?
"In the time of the end every divine
institution is to be restored. The breach
made in the law at the time the Sab-
bath was changed by man, is to be re-
paired. God's remnant people, stand-
ing before the world as reformers, are
to show that the law of God is the
foundation of all enduring reform and
that the Sabbath of the fourth com-
mandment is to stand as a memorial
of creation, a constant reminder of the
power of God. In clear, distinct lines
they are to present the necessity of obe-
dience to all the precepts of the Deca-
logue. Constrained by the love of Christ,
22
they are to cooperate with Him in build-
ing up the waste places. They are to be
repairers of the breach, restores of
paths to dwell in."—"Prophets and
Kings," page 678.
"Christ is coming the second time.
. . . To prepare human beings for this
event, He has sent the first, second, and
third angels' messages. These angels
represent those who receive the truth,
and with power open the gospel to the
world."—Ellen G. White Comments,
"SDA Bible Commentary," Vol. 7, pp.
978, 979.
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Monday
October 12
Part 2
PROPHECY IN THE
ADVENT MOVEMENT
Joel 2:28, 29
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour
out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon
the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will
I pour out My Spirit."
Read verses 30-32.
More than any other text the pioneers of the advent move-
ment referred to Joel 2:28-32 for support of the presence of
the gift of prophecy in the remnant church. Pointing to verse
31, they affirmed that the gift of prophecy would reappear
"before the great and terrible day of the Lord come."
The pioneers also found support in the New Testament for
the spirit of prophecy writings. The latter-day church repre-
sented by "the remnant" have the "testimony of Jesus Christ,"
which is identified by an angel as "the spirit of prophecy." Rev.
19:10. (See also 1 Cor. 1:4-8.)
What promise did the Lord make, assuring prophetic
guidance for His people in the last days?
THINK IT THROUGH
In these times of error with multiple voices speaking
professedly for God, how may we know the difference
between the false and the genuine?
"The 'Testimonies' are not to belittle
the Word of God, but to exalt it and
attract minds to it, that the beautiful
simplicity of truth may impress all."—
"Testimonies," Vol. 5, p. 665.
"Let the 'Testimonies' be judged by
their fruits. What is the spirit of their
teaching? What has been the result of
their influence? 'All who desire to do
so can acquaint themselves with the
fruits of these visions....
"'God is either teaching His church,
reproving their wrongs and strengthen-
ing their faith, or He is not. This work
is of God, or it is not. God does nothing
in partnership with Satan. My work
. . . bears the stamp of God or the
stamp of the enemy. There is no half-
way work in the matter. The 'Testi-
monies' are of the Spirit of God, or of
the devil.'"—"Testimonies," Vol. 5, p.
671.
23
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Tuesday
October 13
Part 3
PROPHETIC
GUIDANCE
IN HEALTHFUL
LIVING
"I saw that it was a sacred duty to attend to our health, and
arouse others to their duty. . . . We have a duty to speak, to
come out against intemperance of every kind,—intemperance in
working, in eating, in drinking, and in drugging,—and then
point them to God's great medicine, water, pure soft water,
for diseases, for health, for cleanliness, and for a luxury. . . . I
saw that we should not be silent upon the subject of health
but should wake up minds to the subject."
"It is not safe nor pleasing to God to violate the laws of
health and then ask Him to take care of our health and keep
us from disease when we are living directly contrary to our
prayers."—Ms. 1, 1863.
In a remarkable manner God worked in the early days of
the Adventist Church to bring His commandment-keeping peo-
ple into harmony with physical law. It was at the house of
Aaron Hilliard, at Otsego, Michigan, June 6, 1863, that the
important subject of health reform was opened before Mrs.
White in vision. See
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 481.
This was less than two weeks after the adjournment of the
first General Conference session in Battle Creek.
Instruction was given not only for the church, but also for
Mrs. White and her husband as it concerned their own physical
welfare. At that time Elder White was a sick and exhausted
man.
This vision was providentially timed to coincide with the
organization of the church into a general body. A united ad-
vance in temperance and godliness could now be effected among
the Sabbath-keeping Adventists with the better organizational
facilities at hand to prosecute this new concept.
A twofold duty was laid upon God's remnant people by the
Otsego health vision. It should not be forgotten that it is just
as much a sacred duty to arouse others to a sense of physical
morality as it is to practice health reform ourselves. The
Testi-
monies,
however, should not be used as a club to pound fellow
Adventists into a submissive posture about healthful living or
anything else!
THINK IT THROUGH
Has the passing of more than a century removed or
intensified the obligation to live healthfully and godly?
Why?
The passing of many decades has
substantiated the validity of the spirit
of prophecy counsels. We are reminded
of the words of the apostle Paul, "I
certify you, brethren, that the gospel
24
which was preached of me is not after
man. For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the reve-
lation of Jesus Christ." Gal. 1:11, 12.
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Wednesday
October 14
Part 4
THE 1863
HEALTH VISION
THINK IT THROUGH
Arthur L. White wrote of the large scope of the 1863 health
vision (see Part 3) with real insight. How many facets of the
subject are mentioned?
"Mankind suffered as, turning from God's plan, they made
flesh food a part of the diet; intemperance in eating and in
drinking and the indulgence of base passions had benumbed
the fine sensibilities; the use of intoxicating beverages had be-
clouded men's reasoning faculties; tobacco in whatever form
it was used was a slow poison; tea and coffee were stimulating,
with effects similar to those of tobacco ; in harmony with mor-
bid appetite, rich desserts and every hurtful thing had been
crowded into the stomach, bringing pain and various ills; appe-
tite was to be denied, and they were to eat sparingly of food
that was healthful; the use of swine's flesh had ever been for-
bidden and hurtful, and there were other animals that God had
forbidden man to eat; children had been led by their parents
to eat improperly and had suffered greatly; drug taking was
baneful, resulting in more deaths than all other causes combined
—strychnine, opium, mercury, and quinine were specifically
named as having destroyed their millions; in sickness, nature
was to be aided by the common blessings of pure air, pure
water, and a simple diet, and this would result in a speedy and
safe cure; water was especially beneficial, but many had never
experienced its helpful effects; multitudes remained in inexcus-
able ignorance, wondering why the race was feeble and life
short; there were many who had neglected personal cleanliness;
strict habits of cleanliness should be observed, and this in-
volved the proper disposal of body wastes; houses were to be
built with the value of sunlight taken into account; rooms,
especially those slept in, should be well ventilated; healthful
dress was an important factor; a diseased body affects the
brain; Satan triumphs in the ruinous work of causing members
of the human family to destroy themselves through wrong
habits; all are required to preserve healthy bodies and sound
minds."—Arthur L. White,
Review and Herald,
June 6, 1968.
Note the balance between "don'ts" and "dos" in this counsel:
"DO"
"DON'T"
sound thinking
alcohol, tobacco
temperance
tea, coffee
pure air
swine's flesh
pure water
rich desserts
sunlight
flesh food
cleanliness
drugs (as noted)
healthful dress
gluttony
homes sanitary, well built
base passions
health consciousness
uncleanliness
These health principles and teachings took definite shape in
such inspired books as
The Ministry of Healing
and
Counsels
on Diet and Foods,
and represented light from heaven as real
as any counsel given elsewhere by Ellen White.
How many bad habits does it take to cripple or kill
a man? How many health principles can be violated—
safely?
4—A4Qt70
25
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Thursday
October 15
Part 5
EARLY ADVENTIST
VITAL STATISTICS
THINK IT THROUGH
The obituaries in the
Review and Herald
for 1862 report 63
deaths. Of these 18 were children under seven years of age, 9
were between 7 and 20 years old, 14 between 21 and 40. Four-
teen reached 60 years, and only 8 passed the 60 mark.
The general health picture among Adventists in the 1860's
and before the light of health reform came to us in the 1863
health-reform vision was decidedly unfavorable. There was, as
we note above, a high infant mortality rate.
"Annie Smith, Uriah's talented sister, died at the age of
27. Nathaniel and Anna, brother and sister of James White,
died at the ages of 21 and 26, respectively, one in 1853 and the
other in 1854, while living with the White family at Rochester,
New York. Robert Harmon, Ellen White's brother, closed his
life at the age of 27. If, in the winter of 1853 to 1854, Ellen
White had not been providentially relieved of a serious heart
condition and of a threatening cancer of the eye, she would
have closed her lifework at the age of 27. . .
"Our forefathers, giving but little attention to health, took
the situation in stride. Little known to them at that time was
the fact that health was close to religion, and that God, who
was leading a people who were preparing to meet their Lord
through the means of His choice, was about to lead His people
into a new and helpful experience."—Arthur L. White,
Review
and Herald,
June 6, 1968.
Seventh-day Adventists in those days did not understand
health principles to any extent. Prior to 1863 Adventists had
taken several basic steps, however, away from tobacco, tea,
coffee, and rich, greasy foods. Some progress had been made,
but it was "slow going." At the time of the 1863 vision most
of the principle "messengers" or preachers were down flat on
their backs, the victims of exhaustion or dyspepsia. Ellen White
had lived and struggled back to health through three strokes.
There was, as we can see, a crying, painful need for knowl-
edge about healthful living !
Was Sister White "providentially relieved" of her phys-
ical afflictions before or after the light came on healthful
living?
Does God miraculously heal the sick of their afflictions
while they are disobeying known health principles?
If Ellen White, the instrument of revelation, had died
at the age of 27 instead of 87, in 1854 instead of 1915,
would it have made any difference to the Adventists?
To the world?
"'Something better' is the watch-
word of education, the law of all true
living. Whatever Christ asks us to re-
nounce, He offers in its stead something
better."—"Education," page 296.
26
"As a safeguard against evil, the
preoccupation of the mind with good
is worth more than unnumbered bar-
riers of law and discipline."—"Ibid.,"
p. 213.
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
Friday
October 16
Part 6
HEALTH TEACHING
IN THE CHURCH
THINK IT THROUGH
"In the vision given me in Rochester, New York, December
25, 1865, I was shown that our Sabbath-keeping people have
been negligent in acting upon the light which God has given
in regard to the health reform, that there is yet a great work
before us, and that as a people we have been too backward to
follow in God's opening providence as He has chosen to lead us.
"I was shown that the work of health reform has scarcely
been entered upon yet."
"There is a much greater work before us than we as yet
have any idea of, if we would ensure health by placing our-
selves in the right relation to life."
"There are but few as yet who are aroused sufficiently to
understand how much their habits of diet have to do with their
health, their characters, their usefulness in this world, and their
eternal destiny....
"I was shown that we should provide a home for the afflicted
and those who wish to learn how to take care of their bodies
that they may prevent sickness."—Testimonies,
Vol. 1, pp. 485-
489. (Italics supplied.)
At the fourth annual meeting of the General Conference in
1866 the church leaders passed a number of resolutions includ-
ing the following, which represented a new sense of duty to
spread the knowledge of healthful living:
"Resolved,
That we acknowledge the health reform as set
forth in the testimony of Sister White, as part of the work of
God incumbent on us at this time; and that we pledge our-
selves to live in accordance with these principles, and that we
will use our best endeavors to impress their importance upon
others."—Review
and Herald,
May 22, 1866.
Our first health paper,
The Health Reformer,
appeared in
1866. The editor was H. S. Lay, M.D. That same year this gen-
tleman became the medical director of The Western Health Re-
form Institute in Battle Creek, our first "sanitarium."
The purpose of that health institution was primarily to save
souls and to teach natural principles of healing and living. With
foresight of the perils that lurked in institutional work, Mrs.
White wrote of the patients:
"God forbid that these afflicted ones should ever be disap-
pointed and grieved in finding the managers of the Institute
working only from a worldly standpoint instead of adding to
the hygienic practice the blessings and virtues of nursing fathers
and mothers in
Israel."—Testimonies,
Vol. 1, p. 561. Or as we
would say today—the spiritual and the scientific blended in a
balanced ministry of healing.
Does the church today still cherish health principles
and promote the dissemination of essential health knowl-
edge?
27
How Adventists Became Health-minded
LESSON 3
October 17
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
Part 7
1. True or False: The advent movement is described
in prophecies found in the Old and the New Testa-
ments
2.
True or False: The Holy Scriptures indicate that
the manifestation of the gift of prophecy is limited to
Bible times
3.
"I saw that it was a sacred
to attend to
Our
,
and
others to their
4.
Do the books,
Counsels on Diet and Foods, The
Ministry of Healing,
et cetera, with the limitations
that they impose upon diet and other aspects of life,
represent Mrs. White's own opinions or are these books
as inspired as are
The Great Controversy
or
The Desire
of Ages?
5.
How would you describe the health of Seventh-day
Adventists in the early 1860's)
6.
True or False: Health evangelism includes:
a.
Sanitarium and hospital work
b.
The Five-Day: Plan to stop smoking
c.
Health lectures by knowledgeable medical work-
ers and ministers
el.
The ministry
.
of health publications
ANSWERS:'
•ani;
!atu4
!mu; •ct :an;; ye <9) 'wed
(9)
.
saA (9) •Autp `asuo,le 'Ipteaq 'Ai* (9) •astej (z) •atua (/)
2*
HEALTHFUL LIVING AND THE
THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE
4
"Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do His commands; seek righ-
teousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of
the Lord." Zephaniah 2:3, RSV.
"To make plain natural law, and urge the hand is with the
body ."—T estimonies,
the obedience of it, is the work that accom-
Vol. 3, p. 161.
panies the third angel's message to prepare
Read and study Rev. 14:6-13 carefully
a people for the coming of the Lord."— for background and context.
Testimonies,
Vol. 3, p. 161.
Two responsibilities are placed upon
LESSON OUTLINE
Seventh-day Adventists: (1) to make plain
natural law; (2) to urge obedience to it.
1. The Message of Climax
This work of preaching and witnessing is
Rev. 14:12
the work that "accompanies the third an-
gel's message." The result of this work is
2. How to Present God's Message
the preparation of "a people for the corn-
Mark 2:9-11
ing of the Lord."
It should be emphasized that the doc-
3. Prophecy of Christ's Perseverance
trine of healthful living is
not
the third
Isa. 42:1, 4, 13
angel's message itself. "The health reform
is closely connected with the work of the
4. Healthful Living and Sanctification
third message, yet it is not the message."
Rom. 12:1, 2
—Testimonies,
Vol. 1, p. 559.
"December 10, 1871, I was again shown 5.
Power of Example
that the health reform is one branch of
1 Tim. 4:12, 16
the great work which is to fit a people for
the coming of the Lord. It is as closely con-
6. Solemn Nature of Divine Instruction
nected with the third angel's message as
Hosea 6:5, 7
29
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
Sunday
October 18
Part 1
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that
THE MESSAGE keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
OF CLIMAX
Rev. 14:12
The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church called
the three angels' messages of Rev. 14:6-14 "present truth," that
is, truth for the present time—the last and final times of the
world. Reduced to the lowest common denominator, the third
angel's message became "the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus." This was the expression that represented the
life and substance of Seventh-day Adventism.
The health-reform message associated with the third angel's
message was designed to equip God's children with stamina and
strength of mind and body to live and represent the truth in
times of great stress and tension. It was identified with the
preaching of Adventists from early days. Its role is best de-
scribed as follows:
"Our preachers should teach the health reform, yet they
should not make this the leading theme in the place of the
message. Its place is among those subjects which set forth the
preparatory work to meet the events brought to view by the
message; among these it is prominent. We should take hold of
every reform with zeal, yet should avoid giving the impression
that we are vacillating and subject to fanaticism."—Testi-
monies,
Vol. 1, p. 559.
Any careful student who examines the Adventist health
teaching as propounded by Ellen White and by representative
Seventh-day Adventist nutritionists observes the absence of
sectarian faddism. They also note that diet and the power of
right thinking, for example, are not the totality of Adventism.
Christ, His teachings and commandments in the setting of the
last solemn judgment message to the world, is Adventism.
Nevertheless, because Adam and Eve lost Eden and fell
through intemperance, temperate habits must be acquired by
God's children before redemption is assured. In His forty-day
fast Christ redeemed Adam's failure and overcame appetite
and made victory over intemperance and the lusts of the flesh
a certain accomplishment.
The great sin of the Noachian world was indulgence of
perverted appetites, so with Sodom and Gomorrah, so with
ancient Babylon and Rome. Today one of the special sins of
this generation is overindulgence, "surfeiting and drunken-
ness." Luke 21:34. God's last message calls people out of and
away from intemperance and gluttony.
What two qualities distinguish God's saints? Is it pos-
sible to have one without the other?
THINK IT THROUGH
Think how the work of the third angel's message would
have been hindered, divorced from the health and tem-
perance emphasis. What loss the Seventh-day Adventist
Church would have sustained without our physicians,
nurses, hospitals, mission launches, food factories, health
products and papers!
30
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
Monday
October 19
THINK IT THROUGH
"Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy,
Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up
thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to
the sick of the palsy,)
. Arise, and take up thy bed, and
go thy way into thine house."
In the healing of the paralytic, Jesus restored the diseased
soul of a man
before
He healed the body.
In the case of the blind man of John 9:1-7, Jesus began
the work of restoration differently. He began with the physical
—the opening of the man's eyes, closed since birth. Verses
14-17 and 24-38 of John 9 reveal that the step from physical
healing to conversion was short and rapid. As soon as the
grateful man, with eyes freshly opened, knew that Jesus the
healer was also the Messiah, he believed with enthusiasm and
gave his heart freely to the Saviour. See
The Desire of Ages,
page 270.
There are real reasons why the body must be restored physio-
logically. Strange as it may seem, these reasons are mostly
spiritual.
Wrote Ellen White: "The body is the only medium
through which the mind and the soul are developed for the
upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls
directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the
physical powers. His success here means the surrender to evil
of the whole being. The tendencies of our physical nature, un-
less under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work
ruin and death."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 130.
"One of the most deplorable effects of the original apostasy
was the loss of man's power of self-control. Only as this power
is regained can there be real progress."—Ibid., p. 129.
There are also very practical reasons why the health reform
—like the right arm of the body—is needed by the body, that
is, the church. The right arm protects and strengthens the
church.
What pointed question did Jesus ask the scribes?
Should ministers qualify themselves to teach health
principles publicly? Should physicians and professional
medical workers qualify themselves to present spiritual
themes? Are the objectives of the work of physicians and
the work of ministers similar?
Part 2
HOW TO PRESENT
GOD'S MESSAGE
Mark 2:9-11
"The proclamation of the third an-
gel's message, the commandments of
God and the testimony of Jesus, is the
burden of our work. The message is to
be proclaimed with a loud cry, and is
to go to the whole world. The presenta-
tion of health principles must be united
with this message, but must not in any
case be independent of it, or in any
way take the place of it."—"Counsels
on Diet and Foods," page 75.
"It is the Lord's design that the re-
storing influence of health reform shall
be a part of the last great effort to pro-
claim the gospel message."—"Ibid."
31
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
111
Tuesday
October 20
Part 3
"Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in
PROPHECY OF whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon
CHRIST'S Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."
PERSEVERANCE
"He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set
judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His
law."
"The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall
stir up jealousy like a man of war: He shall cry, yea,
Isa. 42:1, 4, 13
roar; He shall prevail against His enemies."
The courage and perseverance of Jesus Christ is needed
more perhaps in the conquest of bad physical habits than in
any of the wrestlings of the soul with evil. Often the health
reform is attended with difficulties, not only in living it, but
also in teaching it to the world.
A great deal of moral courage is required to change a life-
time of bad habits—for example, to abandon smoking and the
use of liquor or to overcome the viselike grip of heroin and
certain other drugs. To conquer marijuana and LSD takes
moral stamina. Even to abandon the use of tea and coffee is
for some a deadly struggle.
In some mission lands the chewing of betel nut has a slavish
hold upon the people. Some have never heard of, or choose to
ignore, God's instruction regarding unclean flesh foods (Deut.
14:3-19) and feast upon such things as swine's flesh, lobster,
and crab. Christ has power to break the hold of vice upon the
human organism. The challenge to part company with sin is a
challenge to courage and faith.
Some have trouble adopting the lactovegetarian diet, feel-
ing faintness and a loss of strength when meat is abandoned.
Read
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 482, 483, 394, 395. This
feeling disappears with perseverance.
For all of the conflicts of mind and spirit over the body
there is the example and help of Jesus, the world's best re-
former, to encourage us. He never failed nor did He become
discouraged. He persevered and won the victory. So may we.
What figure of speech is used to represent the vic-
torious conquest of our Lord?
THINK IT THROUGH
Since the conquest of perverted appetite is a possibil-
ity, what about the conquest of every other sin?
"Those who proclaim the message
should teach health reform also. It is
a subject that we must understand, in
order to be prepared for the events
that are close upon us, and it should
have a prominent place. Satan and his
agents are seeking to hinder this work
of reform, and will do all they can to
perplex and burden those who heartily
engage in it. Yet none should be dis-
32
couraged at this, or cease their efforts
because of it. The prophet Isaiah speaks
thus of one characteristic of Christ, 'He
shall not fail nor be discouraged, till
He have set judgment in the earth.'
Then let not His followers talk of failure
or discouragement, but remember the
price paid to rescue man that he might
not perish, but have eternal life."—
"Counsels on Diet and Foods," page 77.
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
Wednesday
October 21
Part 4
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
HEALTHFUL God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
LIVING AND acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
SANCTIFICATION And be not conformed to this world: but be ye trans-
formed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
Rom. 12:1, 2 God."
Phillips renders Rom. 12:1, 2 as follows: "With eyes wide
open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act
of intelligent worship, Ito give Him your bodies, as a living
sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don't
let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but
let God remold your minds from within, so that you may
prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets
all His demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity."
The great apostle labored to win the heathen from their
debasing physical practices. Rom. 1:24-27; Rom. 6:19 ; Col.
3:5-7. Paul pleaded with his converts to turn over their physical
"members" to God as "instruments of righteousness" and not
unrighteousness. Enlightened reason was to control, operating
through a divinely strengthened will; but reason was to be
subject to the guidance of God's Word, not to impulses and
impressions. Sanctification of the whole man would result.
1 Thess. 5:23.
"This is no arbitrary requirement. God's purpose for be-
lievers is their complete restoration. This necessarily includes
the purification and strengthening of their physical as well as
their mental and spiritual powers. Therefore, the Christian who
by faith submits himself to God's way of saving man will
gladly obey this command to regard the health of his body as
a matter of the highest importance. To do otherwise is to
hinder the divine work of restoration."—SDA
Bible Commen-
tary,
on Rom. 12:1.
What is the character of the service we are to render
to God?
THINK IT THROUGH
It has been said facetiously that some people die at
thirty and are buried at sixty. Some people seem to be
half dead. Since God asks for a living sacrifice, how can
we improve the sacrifice we dedicate to Him?
"True sanctification ... is not merely
a theory, an emotion, or a form of
words, but a living, active principle,
entering into the everyday life. It re-
quires that our habits of eating, drink-
ing, and dressing be such as to secure
5—A4Qt70
the preservation of physical, mental,
and moral health, that we may present
to the Lord our bodies, not an offering
corrupted by wrong habits, but 'a liv-
ing sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God.' "—"The Sanctified Life," page 28.
33
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
Thursday
October 22
Part 5
"Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in
POWER OF EXAMPLE conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; con-
tinue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thy-
1 Tim. 4:12, 16 self, and them that hear thee."
The Phillips translation of 1 Tim. 4:16 reads, "Keep a critical
eye both upon your own life and on the teaching you give, and
if you continue to follow the line I have indicated you will not
only save your own soul but the souls of many of your hearers
as well."
All who profess to believe in dietetic reform should be an
example.
The Ministry of Healing,
page 318. True reformers
are not bigoted or self-sufficient, but humble, kind, and cour-
teous, the meekest and most gracious people on earth. See
Evangelism,
page 303;
The Ministry of Healing,
page 157.
It is better to be moderate and move forward slowly than
to outdistance the people. Unity and goodwill prevail in the
church when
all
sense their duty to live healthfully and prac-
tice their beliefs.
"It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of
health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in
advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-
instructed members of •the church, and even ministers of the
gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given
upon this subject. They eat as they please and work as they
please."—Testimonies,
Vol. 9, p. 158.
In how many ways may the Christian lead others in
the pathway of life?
THINK IT THROUGH
Where does all true reform begin? Can true health
reform be experienced along purely intellectual or senti-
mentalist lines?
"As the dew and the still showers
fall upon the withering plants, so let
words fall gently when seeking to win
men from error. God's plan is first to
reach the heart. We are to speak the
truth in love, trusting in Him to give it
power for the reforming of the life. The
Holy Spirit will apply to the soul the
word that is spoken in love.
"Naturally we are self-centered and
opinionated. But when we learn the
lessons that Christ desires to teach us,
34
we become partakers of His nature;
henceforth we live His life. The won-
derful example of Christ, the matchless
tenderness with which He entered into
the feelings of others, weeping with
those who wept, rejoicing with those
who rejoiced, must have a deep influ-
ence upon the character of all who
follow Him in sincerity. By kindly words
and acts they will try to make the path
easy for weary feet."—"The Ministry of
Healing," pages 157, 158.
Healthful Living and the Third Angel's Message
LESSON 4
Friday
October 23
Part 6
SOLEMN NATURE
OF DIVINE
INSTRUCTION
Hosea 6:5, 7
THINK IT THROUGH
"I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them
by the words of My mouth: and Thy judgments are as the
light that goeth forth."
"But they like men have transgressed the covenant:
there have they dealt treacherously against Me."
The prophets Amos and Hosea protested against the sins of
God's people. Concerning this Ellen White wrote: "Against
. .. the unwonted luxury and extravagance, the shameless feast-
ing and drunkenness, the gross licentiousness and debauchery,
of their age, the prophets lifted their voices." And with what
results? "In vain were their protests, in vain their denunciation
of
sin."—Prophets and Kings,
page 282.
The gift of prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
scores the evils of our own day including "the shameless feast-
ing and drunkenness," "the gross licentiousness and debauch-
ery," the physical habits that destroy health and lessen the
powers of the mind and soul to grasp spiritual truth and find
salvation.
The New Testament prophets as well as the Old cried out
against physical sins. Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Cor. 6:18; Rom. 1:18,
22-28; 13:13, 14; James 1:21; 2 Peter 2:9-14.
Weymouth translates Rom. 13:12-14 as follows: "The night
is far advanced: day is about to dawn. Let us therefore lay
aside the deeds of darkness, and put on the armor of light. As
in the daytime, let us behave becomingly, not indulging in
revelry and drunkenness, nor in lust and debauchery, nor in
quarreling and jealousy. But put on as your armor the Lord
Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the passions of your
lower nature."
And Jesus said, "Be on your guard—see to it that your
minds are never clouded by dissipation or drunkenness or the
worries of this life, or else that day may catch you like the
springing of a trap—for it will come upon every inhabitant
of the whole earth. You must be vigilant at all times, praying
that you may be strong enough to come safely through all that
is going to happen, and stand in the presence of the Son of
man." Luke 21:34-36, Phillips.
The God of heaven is seeking to refine and purify His church.
He sits as a refiner of silver. Mal. 3:2, 3. At the very heart of
this reformatory movement are the health counsels of the Lord.
What three things has God undertaken for the good
of His people?
The spirit of prophecy books which present guidance
in the principles and details of well-balanced, healthful
living are for our good. Have you read "The Ministry of
Healing" and "Counsels on Diet and Foods"?
"It was in love that our heavenly from unrestrained indulgence of appe-
Father sent the light of health reform tite."—"Counsels on Diet and Foods,"
to guard against the evils that result page 243.
35
9
(1) a. false; b. true. (2) third angel's message, arm, body. (3) fail, discouraged, judgment. (4)
reasonable. (5) a good example. (6) aid in purification and perfection of the church.
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LESSON 5
INSPIRED HEALTH COUNSELS
5
"In everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowl-
edge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come
behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 1:5-7.
The church at Corinth was enriched "in
all utterance and in all knowledge." So is
the church today "enriched" by the spirit
of prophecy counsels. Think of how these
messages are adapted to our needs and if
followed will result in abundant, healthful
living. Dr. U. D. Register of Loma Linda
University School of Public Health re-
marked:
"For approximately fifty years Mrs. Ellen
G. White wrote extensively in the field of
health and nutrition. She advocated many
principles of health for which there was no
available scientific evidence. Although writ-
ten at a time when health fallacies were
prevalent, the principles have been verified
by science in a remarkable way."
Ellen White wrote: "If Seventh-day Ad-
ventists practiced what they profess to be-
lieve, if they were sincere health reformers,
they would indeed be a spectacle to the
world, to angels, and to
men."—Counsels
on Health,
page 575.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Emotions and Health
Prov. 14:30
2.
Fats, Sugars, and the Human Heart
Lev. 3:17
3.
Stress and Longevity
Deut. 33:25 (last part)
4.
Cancer and Its Causes
Ps. 68:20
5.
Smoking and Lung Disease
1 Cor. 3:17
6.
Hypnosis and Its Aftermath
Rom. 6:16
37
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Sunday
October 25
Part 1
"A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the
EMOTIONS AND rottenness of the bones."
HEALTH
"A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion
Prov. 14:30 makes the bones rot." RSV.
"A sound heart makes for a sound body. Many real sick-
nesses and deformities have been found to be due to the harbor-
ing of jealousy, guilt, and anger, and cures have been wrought
by restoring tranquillity and trust to the soul (see MH 241-
258)."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Prov. 14:30.
"The sympathy which exists between the mind and the body
is very great. When one is affected, the other responds. The
condition of the mind has much to do with the health of the
physical system. If the mind is free and happy, under a con-
sciousness of rightdoing and a sense of satisfaction in causing
happiness to others, it will create a cheerfulness that will react
upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood
and a toning up of the entire body. The blessing of God is
a healer, and those who are abundant in benefiting others will
realize that wondrous blessing in their hearts and
lives."—Tes-
timonies,
Vol. 4, pp. 60, 61.
"It is the duty of everyone to cultivate cheerfulness instead
of brooding over sorrow and troubles. Many . . . sacrifice
health and happiness to a morbid imagination. . . . These de-
pressing emotions are a great injury to them healthwise; for by
hindering the process of digestion, they interfere with nutrition.
While grief and anxiety cannot remedy a single evil, they can
do great harm ; but cheerfulness and hope, while they brighten
the pathway of others, 'are life unto those that find them, and
health to all their flesh.'
"—The Adventist Home,
pages 430,
431.
"A great deal of •the sickness which afflicts humanity has
its origin in the mind and can only be cured by restoring the
mind to
health."—Testimonies,
Vol. 3, p. 184.
What is said to give "life to the flesh"?
It is our duty to present our bodies "a living sacrifice."
What, then, is our duty in regard to controlling our think-
ing? If our thinking affects our health, is it not of first
importance to think according to God's plan?
38
THINK IT THROUGH
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Monday
October
26
Part 2
"It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations
FATS, SUGARS, AND throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor
.
THE HUMAN HEART blood."
Lev. 3:17
Smoking, drinking, and faulty diet throw a burden upon the
heart and upon the blood vessels as well. Animal fat, for ex-
ample, was never intended by the Creator as food for man.
Neither fat nor blood was to be eaten.
Ellen • White cautioned about animal fats as food, and also
against excessive use of sugar, long years ago.
"Both the blood and the fat of animals are consumed as a
luxury. But the Lord gave special directions that these should
not be eaten. Why? Because their use would make a diseased
current of blood in the human system. The disregard for the
Lord's special directions has brought a variety of difficulties
and diseases upon human
beings."—Counsels on Diet and
Foods,
pages 393, 394.
"The eating of flesh meats has made a poor quality of blood
and flesh. . . .
You are liable to acute attacks of disease and to
sudden
death."—Testimonies, Vol. 2, p. 61 (1868). (Italics sup-
plied.)
There is a widespread movement today to reduce the intake
of fats, especially animal fats, in order to reduce the blood
cholesterol and the dangers of atherosclerosis and death from
heart attacks. Mrs. White wrote, "Nuts and nut foods are
coming largely into use to take the place of flesh meats.. .
When properly prepared, olives, like nuts, supply the place of
butter and flesh meats. The oil, as eaten in the olive, is far
preferable to animal oil or fat."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 298 (1905).
"There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of
meat eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus
endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual
health."—Coun-
sels on Health,
page 575.
"The free use of sugar in any form tends to clog the system
and is not unfrequently a cause of disease."—Ibid., p. 154
(1890). (See also
The Ministry of Healing,
page 301.)
THINK IT THROUGH
Many people who switch to a simple diet, free of flesh
meat and excessive desserts, will experience a new glow
of health and a buoyant sense of well-being. If there
were no other compensations than this, it would be worth-
while. What are the other compensations?
39
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Tuesday
October 27
Part 3
STRESS AND
LONGEVITY
Deut. 33:25
(last part)
THINK IT THROUGH
"As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
We are to live one day at a time—with strength always
available for the needs of each day. But many live over their
unhappy yesterdays and borrow the troubles of tomorrow. This
produces stress and tension.
The meaning of the word "stress" is "compulsion" and "pres-
sure." As applied to life in our high-tension environment it
suggests the influences exerted on heart, nerve, brain, and soul
by these stimuli. It is the privilege of the Christian to learn
to cast his cares on God who cares for him. 1 Peter 5:7. Or as
Phillips translates this verse: "You can throw the whole weight
of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern."
There are very good reasons why worry and anxiety should
not be tolerated by the Christian. Not only is worry blind and
unreasonable, expressing a distrust in God, but it is also de-
structive of life and the energy forces of the brain. "Continual
worry is wearing out the life forces."—The
Ministry of Heal-
ing,
page 481. (See also page 241.) These life forces may be used
up rapidly or made to last our allotted time.
Writing in the year 1905, Ellen White stated a scientific truth
when she said, "God has endowed us with a certain amount of
vital force. He has also formed us with organs suited to main-
tain the various functions of life, and He designs that these
organs shall work together in harmony. If we carefully pre-
serve the life force, and keep the delicate mechanism of the
body in order, the result is health; but if the vital force is too
rapidly exhausted, the nervous system borrows power for pres-
ent use from its resources of strength, and when one organ is
injured, all are affected."—The
Ministry of Healing,
pages 234,
235. See also
Fundamentals of Christian Education,
pages 153,
154.
Hans Selye, a research physiologist, has expressed similar
thoughts in his well-known book
The Stress of Life:
"Every living thing has a certain innate amount of adapta-
tion energy or vitality. This can be used slowly for a long
and uneventful life or rapidly during shorter and more stressful
existence."—Page 269.
"Life is essentially a process which gradually spends the
given amount of adaptation energy that we inherited from our
parents. Vitality is like a special kind of bank account which
you can use up by withdrawals but cannot increase by deposits.
Your only control over this most precious fortune is the rate
at which you make your withdrawals."—Page 274.
What is God's plan for man's life?
Is it not wise to control the expenditure of our "de-
posits" of vital energy if it is true that they cannot be
increased?
40
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Wednesday
October 28
Part 4
"Unto God the Lord belong the issues from death."
CANCER AND
ITS CAUSES
Ps. 68:20
menacing than others. But to the Lord belong the "issues," or
"exit" (Smith and Goodspeed), of death. Death is not beyond
Among death-dealing illnesses cancer sometimes seems more
His control. He stands as it were at the "exit" and is in full
charge.
Many years ago Ellen White gave us counsel about some of
the causes of cancer.
"Cancers, tumors, and all inflammatory diseases are largely
caused by meat eating.
"From the light God has given me, the prevalence of cancer
and tumors is largely due to gross living on dead
flesh."—Coun-
sels on Diet and Foods,
page 388.
"Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly
objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing.
Those who use flesh foods little know what they are eating.
Often if they could see the animals when living and know the
quality of the meat they eat, they would turn from it with
loathing. People are continually eating flesh that is filled with
tuberculous and cancerous germs. Tuberculosis, cancer, and
other fatal diseases are thus communicated."—The
Ministry of
Healing,
page 313.
It is recognized today that chemicals can cause cancer. With
regard to one chemical, calomel (which was widely used for-
merly as a medicine), Ellen White says this: "It frequently
manifests itself in tumors, ulcers, and cancers, years after it
has been introduced into the
system."—Selected Messages,
Bk.
2, p. 449.
In 1956, Dr. Wendell Stanley, a virologist of the University
of California, asserted his belief that "viruses cause most all of
human cancers." He theorized that cancer virus might remain
dormant in the human body and then "become active" "by
aging, dietary indiscretions, hormonal imbalance, chemicals,
radiation, or a combination of stresses."—Newsweek, June 18,
1956. "Today no line of investigation into the origins of human
cancer is being pressed more vigorously than that implicating
viruses as at least partly responsible."—Time, October 27, 1958.
What is it that concerns man's existence that "belongs"
to God?
THINK IT THROUGH
"Light is sown for the righteous," said the psalmist.
Psalm 97:11. The harvest of that light is health.
Some cancers can be prevented.
6—A4Qt70
41
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Thursday
October
29
Part 5
"God will destroy anyone who defiles His temple, for
SMOKING AND His temples are holy—and that is exactly what you arel"
LUNG DISEASE Phillips.
"If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy
him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are."
1 Cor. 3:17 RSV.
Tobacco, indicted by Mrs. E. G. White in 1864 and again
in 1905 as a "slow, insidious, and most malignant poison"
(The
Ministry of Healing,
page 327), is found to be the almost ex-
clusive cause of more than 60,000 deaths annually from lung
cancer and to be a major factor in 100,000 annual deaths from
cardiovascular diseases. Keep in mind that lung cancer is "slow"
and also "insidious" in its development, usually taking twenty
to twenty-five years to "mature."
The relationship of the tobacco habit to the dread diseases
emphysema and chronic bronchitis, as well as lung cancer, is
seen by experts in the field. Medical men are appalled as they
face the prospect that no less than 1,000,000 children presently
in school will die of lung cancer if cigarette consumption con-
tinues at its present rate. At this writing 10,000,000 Americans
have emphysema. Ten percent of all males have it. Its death
rate has increased about 300 percent since 1950.
According to
T.
H. Biggs, M.D., medical director of State
Tuberculosis Hospital in Connecticut, the average young man
who refuses to smoke lives about eight years longer than does
the one who takes up the habit and continues it until he dies.
"More than 500 chemical compounds have been discovered in
cigarette smoke. Some of them are found in the gases of the
smoke, and others are discovered in the particles of the smoke.
Some of the compounds are absorbed directly into the blood
from the mouth membranes, some are absorbed from the air
sacs in the lungs, and some remain on the surface of the bron-
chial tubes and cause irritation, bronchitis, emphysema, and
cancer."—Life
and Health,
June, 1969.
The law of cause and effect works inexorably. Is any-
one excluded?
THINK IT THROUGH
Does God deliberately destroy those who destroy the
body temple, or does man destroy himself?
"It is not an easy matter to over-
come an established taste for narcotics
and stimulants. In the name of Christ
alone can this great victory be gained.
He overcame in behalf of man in the
long fast of nearly six weeks in the
wilderness of temptation. He sympa-
thizes with the weakness of man. His
42
love for fallen man was so great that
He made an infinite sacrifice that He
might reach him in his degradation
and through His divine power finally
elevate him to His throne. But it rests
with man whether Christ shall accom-
plish for him that which He is fully able
to do."—"Testimonies," Vol. 4, p. 32.
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
Friday
October 30
Part 6
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves ser-
HYPNOSIS AND vants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
ITS AFTERMATH whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righ-
Rom. 6:16 teousness?"
THINK IT THROUGH
In her earliest experiences Ellen White was shown the perils
of hypnosis and from time to time warned against it. At the
turn of the century she spoke out against the employment of
hypnosis in medical practice, a procedure which placed one
mind under the control of another human mind. She declared
that while "this science may appear to be something beautiful,"
we should leave it alone.
Medical Ministry,
page 111.
Warnings are now being sounded by some medical authori-
ties which point out the serious peril of mind controlling mind
and of following a procedure which would hide the symptoms
of disease and weaken the will of the patient.
To an Adventist physician, Ellen White wrote in the year
1901: "No man or woman should exercise his or her will to
control the senses or reason of another, so that the mind of
the person is rendered passively subject to the will of the
one who is exercising the control. This science may appear to
be something beautiful, but it is a science which you are in no
case to handle. . . . There is something better for you to en-
gage in than the control of human nature over human nature."
—Ibid.
One of the most profound statements made on the subject
of hypnosis and its aftermath follows:
"The theory of mind controlling mind was originated by
Satan, to introduce himself as the chief worker, to put human
philosophy where divine philosophy should be. Of all the errors
that are finding acceptance among professedly Christian peo-
ple, none is a more dangerous deception, none more certain
to separate man from God, than is this. Innocent though it
may appear, if exercised upon patients it will tend to their
destruction, not to their restoration. It opens a door through
which Satan will enter to take possession both of the mind that
is given up to be controlled by another, and of the mind that
controls."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 243.
What must a man do who wishes to have his life dis-
tinguished by "righteousness"?
Does hypnosis sometimes affect the therapist ad-
versely? What happens to the patient's will under hyp-
nosis? May self-reliance and self-respect be developed
as a result of hypnosis therapy? Is dependence shifted
away from God to man?
43
Inspired Health Counsels
LESSON 5
October 31
Part 7
1. Complete: "The sympathy which exists between the
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
and the body is very great. When one is
affected, the other
"A great deal of . . . sickness . . . has its origin in
the
2. True or False:
a.
Animal fat yields "a diseased current of blood in
the human system "
b.
Sugar may be used in the human diet freely
without risk of disease
3. What is one contributing cause of premature death
among human beings)
4. Does our diet have anything to do with cancer) ____
5. Identify three lung diseases associated with the use
of tobacco
6. True or False :
a.
Hypnosis is dangerous because it puts the thera-
pist in the place where God should be and robs
the patient of the inclination to use willpower
and self control
b.
There are times when hypnosis is the only an-
swer to the patient's problem.
ANSWERS:
•asje; •q tonaa 'e (9) •aaauea 2unj 'etuasAmdura 's9po
-uoaq opwaqa (g) •sad (t) •Aloprue pue ssolas (g) •asje; •q :am; *e (z) •putty `spuodsaa 'plqui (I)
44
GOD'S HEALING REMEDIES
"God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us;
Selah. That Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all
nations." Ps. 67:1, 2.
"The things of nature," wrote Ellen
White, "are God's blessings, provided to
give health to body, mind, and soul. They
are given to the well to keep them well and
to the sick to make them
well."—Testi-
monies,
Vol. 7, p. 76.
Again she wrote: "Disease is an effort
of nature to free the system from condi-
tions that result from a violation of the
laws of health. In case of sickness, the
cause should be ascertained. Unhealthful
conditions should be changed, wrong hab-
its corrected. Then nature is to be assisted
in her effort to expel impurities and to re-
establish right conditions in the system.
"Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest,
exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust
in divine power—these are the true reme-
dies. Every person should have a knowl-
edge of nature's remedial agencies and how
to apply them."—The
Ministry of Heal-
ing,
page 127.
How thankful we should be for the as-
sistance of physicians and surgeons to help
us in emergencies and in times when our
limited resources are exhausted. How grate-
ful to God we also should be for the great
healers, His remedies, His wonderful gifts
to us designed to keep us in good health
and to aid in our restoration in the event
of illness.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Sunlight and Fresh Air
Deut. 33:13, 14
2.
Pure, Soft Water
Job 5:8-10
Deut. 11:11, 12
3.
Work, Rest, and Recreation
Mark 6:30, 31
4.
Good Food for Good Health
Gen. 1:29
5.
Trust in Divine Power
Prov. 3:5, 6
6.
Healing Balm of Service
Isa. 58:7, 8
45
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Sunday
November 1
Part 1
SUNLIGHT AND
FRESH AIR
Deut. 33:13, 14
THINK IT THROUGH
"And of Joseph he said, 'Blessed by the Lord be his
land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the
deep that couches beneath, with the choicest fruits of the
sun, and the rich yield of the months.' " RSV.
Read Gen.
2:7.
Sunlight.
The value of sunlight to good health is not dis-
puted. Vitamin D is produced in the body when it is exposed
to sunlight. It is found also in the liver oils of some fish, in
butter, and in egg yolk. Deficiency of Vitamin D may cause
rickets in children and certain bone abnormalities in adults.
One benefit of sunlight is its power to destroy harmful
bacteria. "Every form of uncleanliness tends to disease. Death-
producing germs abound in dark, neglected corners, in decaying
refuse, in dampness and mold and must. . . .
"Perfect cleanliness, plenty of sunlight, careful attention to
sanitation in every detail of the homelife, are essential to free-
dom from disease and to the cheerfulness and vigor of the
inmates of the home."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 276.
See also
Testimonies,
Vol 7, pp. 76, 77.
Fresh Air.
Oxygen is the vital part of the air we breathe.
Oxygen vitalizes the whole person and assists in the metabolism
of food and the release of energy. "The pure air, the glad
sunshine" are "the elixir of
life."—Testimonies,
Vol. 7, pp.
76, 77.
"In order to have good blood, we must breathe well. Full,
deep inspirations of pure air, which fill the lungs with oxygen,
purify the blood. They impart to it a bright color and send
it, a life-giving current, to every part of the body. A good
respiration soothes the nerves; it stimulates the appetite and
renders digestion more perfect; and it induces sound, refresh-
ing sleep."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 272.
Before Adam became a "living soul" what was he?
What made the difference?
Have you noticed that there are people in your church
who like to get away into the great out-of-doors at least
several times a month with their families? But are you
and your family too busy to go?
"There are but few who realize that,
in order to enjoy health and cheerful-
ness, they must have an abundance of
sunlight, pure air, and physical exer-
cise."—"My Life Today," page 138.
"If you would have your homes
sweet and inviting, make them bright
46
with air and sunshine. .. . If you have
God's presence and possess earnest,
loving hearts, a humble home made
bright with air and sunlight . . . will
be to your family . . . a heaven be-
low."—"Testimonies," Vol. 2, p. 527.
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Monday
November 2
THINK IT THROUGH
"I would seek unto God, and unto God would I com-
mit my cause: . . . who giveth rain upon the earth, and
sendeth waters upon the fields."
"But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land
of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of
heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for."
Water, air, and fire are forces which when properly harnessed
serve man well. In the East water is called "the gift of God."
—The Desire of Ages,
page 183. Every drop is the gift of re-
deeming love.
Sons and Daughters of God,
page 241. When
water is applied internally and externally, it has healing virtue:
Externally—
(1)
Relieves pain.
The Ministry of Healing,
page 237.
(2)
Can reduce fever.
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pages 190,
304, 419.
(3)
Regulates blood circulation.
The Ministry of Healing,
page
237.
(4)
Cleanses body tissues.
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pages
420, 421.
(5)
Can sometimes check disease when applied intelligently.
The Ministry of Healing,
page 237.
(6)
Bathing removes impurities from the skin.
The Ministry
of Healing,
page 276.
(7)
Maintains personal cleanliness.
Selected Messages,
Bk. 2,
pp. 460, 461.
Internally—
(1)
Quenches thirst.
The Ministry of Healing,
page 237;
Coun-
sels on Diet and Foods,
page 420.
(2)
Purifies the blood.
My Life Today,
page 139.
(3)
Helps nature keep the body well.
Spiritual Gifts,
Vol. 4,
part 1, p. 141.
(4)
Prevents diseases and suffering.
My Life Today,
page 139;
Testimonies,
Vol. 1, p. 491.
(5)
Soft water best for drinking and cooking.
Counsels on Diet
and Foods,
page 419.
Pure soft water for drinking and cooking is recommended.
Even in washing clothes soft water is better.
How does God graciously care for the needs of His
people?
Does God still have a care for the physical needs of
His earthly children and supply those needs?
Part 2
PURE, SOFT
WATER
Job 5:8-10
Deut. 11:11,12
47
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Tuesday
November 3
Part 3
"And the apostles gathered themselves together unto
WORK, REST, Jesus, and told Him all things, both what they had done,
AND RECREATION and what they had taught. And He said unto them, Come
ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile:
for there were many coming and going, and they had no
Mark 6:30, 31
leisure so much as to eat."
Read Mark 2:27.
The provisions God has made for our welfare include: (1)
Work, (2) Rest, (3) Recreation.
(1)
Work.
Exercise like jogging, swimming, calisthenics, and
hiking is excellent; but physical work with something construc-
tive accomplished is even more beneficial.
"Let men and women work in field and orchard and garden.
This will bring health and strength to nerve and muscle. . . .
Every part of the human organism should be equally taxed.
This is necessary for the harmonious development and action
of every part. . . . God made nerve and muscle in order that
they might be used. It is the inaction of the human machinery
that brings suffering and disease."—My
Life Today,
page 136.
(2)
Rest.
"Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile,"
said Jesus. The rest God gives includes (1) physical rest, (2)
Sabbath rest, (3) rest from the load of sin through Christ.
(3)
Recreation.
In the year 1867 the spirit of prophecy made
the first general appeal to Seventh-day Adventists to allow
time in their busy lives for recreation.
"I was shown that Sabbath keepers as a people labor too
hard without allowing themselves change or periods of rest.
Recreation is needful to those who are engaged in physical
labor and is still more essential for those whose labor is prin-
cipally mental. It is not essential to our salvation, nor for the
glory of ,,God, to keep the mind laboring constantly and ex-
cessively, even upon religious
themes."—Testimonies,
Vol. 1,
p. 514. See also
Gospel Workers,
pages 243-245.
Remember: Jesus was intense but never tense. Prayer and
trust and rest in God made the difference. So may we have
energy and cheerfulness and deep earnestness in the performing
of life's duties.
What provisions did God make for man's welfare?
Gen. 2:15, 19.
48
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Wednesday
November 4
Part 4
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
GOOD FOOD FOR bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
GOOD HEALTH every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding
Gen. 1:29 seed; to you it shall be for meat."
The original diet provided by God for man consisted of fruit,
grains, and nuts. Even vegetables, or green "herbs" were not
allowed until after •the fall. Gen. 3:18. Dairy products and flesh
foods were not a part of the Edenic fare, but were later al-
lowed under certain circumstances.
The ideal diet for those preparing for the Lord's return is
here described:
"Grains and fruits prepared free from grease, and in as
natural a condition as possible, should be the food for the
tables of all who claim to be preparing for translation to
heaven. . . . Gratification of taste should not be consulted
irrespective of physical, intellectual, or moral health."—Testi-
monies,
Vol. 2, p. 352.
"Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord,
meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to
form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in
view, and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think
that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the
light which God has been pleased to give
us."—Counsels on
Diet and Foods,
pages 380, 381.
Man's need for a safe and adequate diet should be recog-
nized. Dairy products might well be used along with plant
foods to guarantee the "most healthful diet."
"Fruit, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way,
free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or
cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to
the body and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intel-
lect that are not produced by a stimulating
diet."—Counsels
on Health,
page 115.
In
Today's Health,
June 1, 1966, Phillip L. White, Sc.D.,
secretary of the Council on Foods and Nutrition of the Amer-
ican Medical Association, answered the question, "Is it possible
for a [pure] vegetarian to obtain all of the necessary nutri-
ments to maintain good health ?"
The answer was as follows:
"It is possible, but somewhat difficult. Special care must be
taken to include whole-grain cereals, legumes, nuts, and nut-
like seeds as well as a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
This wide variety is necessary in order to be assured of an
adequate intake of the more difficult to obtain vitamins, folic
acid, and vitamin B12 as well as calcium and iron.
"The lactovegetarian has an easier time since eggs, milk, and
milk products may be consumed. These foods help assure ade-
quate amounts of protein, calcium, and the B vitamins."
What foods were originally provided for man?
THINK IT THROUGH
What reasons can you give for choosing a lactovege-
tarian diet instead of a meat diet?
7—A4Qt70
49
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Thursday
November 5
Part 5
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not
TRUST IN unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowl-
DIVINE POWER edge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
Prov. 3:5, 6
Trust in God opens the door for healing to flow to sick-
hearted and to sick-bodied men and women. Trusting means
"an assured reliance" on the character and ability of God to
help us with all our problems. Trust is built on the knowledge
of Him whom to know aright means to trust and love com-
pletely.
Paul's admonition to the Philippians, "Be careful for noth-
ing" (Phil. 4:6), is offered in the context of, "The Lord is at
hand" (verse 5). "The Lord is coming soon." Goodspeed. Phil-
lips translates this clause, "never forget the nearness of your
Lord."
The last days are troubled days. We need to learn the lesson:
"In nothing be anxious," ASV; "Let no care trouble you,"
Conybeare; "Do not worry about anything," Montgomery;
"Entertain no worry," Berkeley.
Prayer is open to you, and you may "tell God every detail
of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer." Phil. 4:6, Phil-
lips.
Trust lifts off the weight and pressure of business and health
cares and anxieties. Trust resigns itself to God's supervision,
accepting the path marked out by Providence as the best way
to travel.
"Having done all, . . . stand," said Paul. Eph. 6:13. This
suggests trusting and fighting the battle of life till the end.
There is a four-walled fortress of strength in the psalmist's
words: (1)
"Trust
in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Ps.
37:3. (2)
"Delight
thyself also in •the Lord; and He shall give thee the
desires of thine heart." V. 4. (3)
"Commit thy way
unto the
Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." V. 5.
(4)
"Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: fret not
thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of
the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." V. 7.
Above all other aids in building good health, "trust in God"
is the first ingredient.
What promises are given to those who trust in God?
Ellen White wrote, "Sickness of the mind prevails
everywhere. Nine tenths of the diseases from which men
suffer have their foundation here."—"Testimonies," Vol.
5, p. 444. What might happen if people who are upset
and nervous about many things could learn to carry their
cares and perplexities to the great Burden Bearer?
THINK IT THROUGH
50
God's Healing Remedies
LESSON 6
Friday
November 6
Part 6
"Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that
HEALING BALM thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when
OF SERVICE thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ...? Then shall
thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall
go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy re-
Isa. 58:7, 8 reward."
THINK IT THROUGH
Read Isa. 50:4.
"Thine health shall spring forth speedily," literally, "Thy
new flesh shall speedily grow," Rotherham; according to a
footnote in this translation, "in the healing of wounds." The
heart, mind, and body are healed by the precious balm of the
Word of God which the Christian proclaims.
And notice the rich reward promised:
"Then
shall thy light
break forth as the morning, and
thine health
shall spring forth
speedily."
"Here [Isa. 58:7, 8] is an abundantly precious promise for
all who will interest themselves in the cases of those who need
help. How can God come in and bless and prosper those who
have no special care for anyone except themselves, and who do
not use that which He has entrusted to them, to glorify His
name on •the
earth?"—Testimonies,
Vol. 2, p. 332.
"If the mind is free and happy, under a consciousness of
rightdoing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to
others, it will create a cheerfulness that will react upon the
whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood and a
toning up of •the entire body. The blessing of God is a healer,
and those who are abundant in benefiting others will realize
that wondrous blessing in their hearts and lives."—Ibid., Vol.
4, pp. 60, 61.
Many elderly Christians, retired and bored with life, have
prolonged their days by lengthening their witness. Thousands
have experienced relief from ills and infirmities by involvement
in church activities—selling or giving away or mailing Chris-
tian literature or participating in welfare or Dorcas work—even
Ingathering!
"Good deeds are twice a blessing, benefiting both the giver
and the receiver of the kindness. The consciousness of right-
doing is one of the best medicines for diseased bodies and
minds. When the mind is free and happy from a sense of duty
well done and the satisfaction of giving happiness to others,
the cheering, uplifting influence brings new life to the whole
being."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 257.
What two promises are made to the Christian who is
involved in a life of service? Explain.
Jesus was not sick a day in His life. Was this abun-
dant health the result of chance? What kind of life did
He live?
51
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(1) air, sunshine, elixir. (2) false. (3) work, rest, recreation. (4) false. (5) trust, delight, commit,
rest. (6) twice, giver, receiver.
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LESSON 7
November 14
THE MENTAL OUTLOOK
7
"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus." Phil. 4:6, 7.
In the year 1872, nearly a century ago,
Man is a whole—a unit. The whole man
Ellen White spoke out lucidly on mind- must be cared for with far more interest
body relationships:
and attention than some give. This is a
"To deal with men and women whose health-consciousness that results in a
minds as well as bodies are diseased is a
healthy, intelligent witness for Christ.
nice work. Great wisdom is needed by the
physicians at the Institute in order to cure
LESSON OUTLINE
the body through the mind. But few realize
the power that the mind has over the body.
I.
Effect of Mental Influence
A great deal of the sickness which afflicts
Prov. 17:22
humanity has its origin in the mind and
can only be cured by restoring the mind to
2. Gaining Emotional Strength
health."—Testimonies,
Vol. 3, p. 184.
Eph. 3:16, 17
In the strong present emphasis on psy-
chosomatic medicine, scientists now hold
3. Prayer and God's Promises
that a large share of illnesses—half or more
—may be traced to emotional factors. But
Eph. 6:10, 18
the inspired messenger of God said in 1867,
4. The Gospel Prescription
"That which brings sickness of body and
mind to nearly all is dissatisfied feelings and
Rom. 1:16
discontented
repinings."—Testimonies,
Vol.
1, p. 566.
5. True Mind Cure
Conversely, the effect of bodily habits on
Prov. 3:7, 8
the mind—either for good or evil—was also
clearly seen by the Lord's messenger. See
6. God Our Healer
Counsels on Health,
page 566.
Ex. 15:26
53
Sunday
November 8
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a
broken spirit drieth the bones."
"A joyful heart worketh an excellent cure,—but a
stricken spirit drieth up the bone." Rotherham.
" 'Merry' has changed its meaning since 1611. It did not then
have the meaning of boisterous mirth. 'God rest you merry,
gentlemen' meant, 'God keep you in glad peace, gentlemen.'
The face glows with joy when the heart is full of light and
peace. But the spirit is broken by continued sorrow of heart.
When anxiety is permitted to reign, resilience is steadily weak-
ened, until at last the resistance of the mind may be broken.
The mental trouble is reflected in the physical condition of the
body ."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Prov. 15:13.
Dr. Floyd L. Ruch wrote: "Illnesses are very often caused
by faulty emotional patterns. One physician, for instance, points
to evidence indicating that persistent and repeated emotional
disturbances may so overstimulate the alimentary tract that
organic lesions develop. It is his belief that uncomplicated peptic
ulcers—that is, open sores on the stomach wall which are un-
responsive to medical treatment—are probably always of ner-
vous
origin."—Psychology and Life,
page 172.
The result of cheerfulness or the consequences of depression
are felt in every nerve and organ of the body. Therefore the
control of the thoughts—while requiring effort and concentra-
tion—brings rich rewards. Our thoughts should be identified
with and directed toward "the God of peace." Phil. 4:9.
(1)
The spirit that comes from God is "of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind," but not of fear and doubt and
anxiety. 2 Tim. 1:7.
(2)
The "peace of God" is to rule in our hearts. Col. 3:15.
This suggests peace presiding and governing over the entire life.
(3)
It is in "returning" to God that peace and confidence and
rest are found. "For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One
of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength." Isa. 30:15.
What are the fruits of joyfulness? of gloom and sad-
ness?
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
Part 1
EFFECT OF MENTAL
INFLUENCE
Prov. 17:22
THINK IT THROUGH
If "a joyful heart worketh an excellent cure," why not
try being joyful! People attempt all sorts of costly cures
today. This one is free. "The joy of the Lord is your
strength." Neh. 8:10.
"The relation that exists between the
mind and the body is very intimate.
When one is affected, the other sym-
pathizes. The condition of the mind
affects the health to a far greater de-
gree than many realize. Many of the
54
diseases from which men suffer are the
result of mental depression. Grief, anx-
iety, discontent, remorse, guilt, dis-
trust, all tend to break down the life
forces and to invite decay and death."
—"The Ministry of Healing," page 241.
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
El
Monday
November
9
Part 2
"That He would grant you, according to the riches of
GAINING His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in
EMOTIONAL the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by
STRENGTH faith."
Eph. 3:16, 17
Read Isa. 41:10.
THINK IT THROUGH
Note the following translations of the latter part of verse
16: "To be strengthened by His Spirit with power permeating
your inmost being," Weymouth; "In your inner nature," Good-
speed; "To know the strength of the Spirit's inner reinforce-
ment," Phillips; "The mighty inner strengthening of His Holy
Spirit," Taylor.
Paul commanded the Ephesians to "be filled with the Spirit."
Eph. 5:18. It is by the Holy Spirit that Christ dwells in us.
"Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which
He hath given us." 1 John 3:24. "Christ is the wellspring of
life."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 247.
The Christian can enjoy the presence of God and the infilling
of the Holy Spirit by faith. One need not
feel
that presence nor
experience ecstasy to know that it is reality.
"Many suppose . . . that they cannot have faith unless they
feel the power of the Spirit. Such confound faith with the
blessing that comes through faith. The very time to exercise
faith is when we feel destitute of the Spirit. When thick clouds
of darkness seem to hover over the mind, then is the time to
let living faith pierce the darkness and scatter the clouds. True
faith rests on the promises contained in the Word of God, and
those only who obey that Word can claim its glorious prom-
ises."—Early Writings,
page 72.
The emotions and feelings are to be subject to the reason
and will of an enlightened Christian mind. The kingly fac-
ulty of reason bears sway. Many make the mistake of living by
feeling, judging of their acceptance with God on the grounds
of a happy or depressed feeling. But passing moods are no
evidence of Heaven's favor or frown.
What five reasons did Isaiah have for being unafraid
and undismayed?
If true religion is dependent on the intensity of one's
feelings, who can be saved but the emotional ones! Jesus
was a "Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Isa.
53:3. Yet He had a constant strength in God—a deep
abiding joy. Can this be our experience? Is our health
influenced by the emotional drives in our spiritual life?
55
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
Tuesday
November 10
Part 3
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
PRAYER AND GOD'S the power of His might."
PROMISES
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance
Eph. 6:10, 18
and supplication for all saints."
Read 2 Peter 1:4.
THINK IT THROUGH
We are to "pray all the time" (Taylor) in harmony with
the Holy Spirit's wishes expressed in Holy Scripture and the
spirit of prophecy. "The Holy Spirit is the Author of the
Scriptures and of the spirit of prophecy."—Letter 92, 1900.
God's promises are true and trustworthy and "not yea and
nay," but yea. See
Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 631. "Not one of them
will
fail."—Ibid.,
p. 630. They are scattered "like pearls all
through the Sacred
Writings."—Counsels on Sabbath School
Work,
page 18. "The Bible is full of rich gems of promise."
—Life Sketches,
page 285. "The unfailing promises of God will
keep your heart in perfect peace."—My
Life Today,
page 338.
Health of mind and body is encouraged by religious exercise
based upon God's Word.
We are to inquire what are God's promises and what are
His commands. Knowing these (through Bible study) we are to
trust the one and obey the other.
"Duty is duty, and should be performed for its own sake.
But the Lord has compassion upon us in our fallen condition,
and accompanies His commands with promises. He calls upon
His people to prove Him, declaring that He will reward obe-
dience with the richest blessings."—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 4, pp. 1182, 1183. The tithe prom-
ise and command is an illustration. Mal. 3:8-10. The Sabbath
command is also. Isa. 58:12-14.
Analyze Paul's exhortation to prayer. How often? In
what spirit? For whom?
"It is impossible for any human mind to exhaust even
one truth or promise of the Bible. One catches the glory
from one point of view, another from another point; yet
we can discern only gleamings. The full radiance is be-
yond our vision."—"Education," page 171.
"Those who decide to do nothing in
any line that will displease God, will
know, after presenting their case be-
fore Him, just what course to pursue.
56
And they will receive not only wisdom,
but strength."—"The Desire of Ages,"
page 668.
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
Wednesday
November 11
Part 4
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
THE GOSPEL is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
PRESCRIPTION believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
Rom. 1:16
The power that works effectively in man's recovery from
sin is the gospel. This is man's only hope. The New Testament
in Basic English reads: "For I have no feeling of shame about
the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation
to everyone who has faith."
No Christian should have a "feeling of shame about the
good news" but should freely tell what Christ has done for his
soul.
"When the gospel is received in its purity and power, it is
a cure for the maladies that originated in sin. The Sun of
Righteousness arises, 'with healing in His wings.' . . . Not all
that this world bestows can heal a broken heart, or impart
peace of mind, or remove care, or banish disease. Fame, genius,
talent—all are powerless to gladden the sorrowful heart or to
restore the wasted life. The life of God in the soul is man's
only hope."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 115.
There is need in the church for skillful pastors, counselors,
and physicians to help the emotionally ill, but human resources
and therapies succeed to the degree that they become channels
for the flow of the divine healing. Christian psychiatrists and
psychologists recognize their dependence upon God for success
in treating patients.
"The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is
a vitalizing power. Every vital part—the brain, the heart, the
nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of
the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt
and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces.
With it come serenity and composure. It implants in the soul,
joy that nothing earthly can destroy,—joy in the Holy Spirit,
—health-giving, life-giving joy.
"Our Saviour's words, 'Come unto Me, . . . and I will give
you rest' (Matt. 11:28), are a prescription for the healing of
physical, mental, and spiritual
ills."—Ibid.
"If human beings would open the windows of the soul
heavenward, in appreciation of the divine gifts, a flood of heal-
ing virtue would pour
in."—Ibid.,
p. 116.
What is the gospel said to be? What earthly power
can substitute for it?
THINK IT THROUGH
The gospel means good news! "Somebody" to get
excited about! Christ, the Great Healer, IS the gospel.
Without Him, is a formula for straight thinking enough?
Is a wholesome philosophy of life enough?
57
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
Thursday
November 12
Part 5
"Never pride yourself on your own wisdom, revere
TRUE MIND CURE the Eternal and draw back from sin: that will mean
health for your body and fresh life to your frame." Mof-
Prov. 3:7, 8
fatt.
THINK IT THROUGH
Read Jer. 10:23, 24.
Health of mind and body is related to dependence upon
"the Eternal" One.
The pride of man is destructive and separates man from the
Life-giver. That humility and faith which acknowledges God
the Creator and Redeemer as supreme and man as utterly de-
pendent is worth everything.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
—Isaac Watts.
To know that God is good is even more important than to
recognize that He is supreme and all-powerful and all-wise. The
faith that builds on the fact that the great God is a good God
is fundamental.
Yet in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed trust my spirit clings;
I know that God is good !
—Whittier.
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3.
"All that man needs to know or can know of God has been
revealed in the life and character of His Son. . . .
"Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of
others, He represented the character of God, and was con-
stantly engaged in service for God and
man."—Testimonies,
Vol. 8, p. 286.
In the cure of the guilt-racked, distraught, perplexed, and
troubled mind and heart the knowledge of God is the first and
most important knowledge. The troubled heart finds peace and
rest when it understands the forgiving mercies and acceptance
of the gracious Lord.
Three admonitions are given by the wise man. What
promise is made to those who respect his counsel?
The basic problem of many Christians is that they
worship God from a sense of duty or to escape damna-
"NOW:What is the reason for this? Simply that their knowl-
edge of God is inadequate, warped by fear which
prompts and flavors all of their religious behavior. What
do they need?
58
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
Friday
November 13
Part 6
"If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the
GOD, OUR HEALER Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight,
and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all
His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee,
which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the
Ex. 15:26 Lord that healeth thee."
THINK IT THROUGH
All healing comes from God—whether healing of mind or
healing of body. Persons suffering from nervous breakdowns are
ill. While the organs of their bodies may not be diseased, there
is often functional disturbance of different kinds. This results
from excessive stimulation caused by uncontrolled emotions.
The nervous system suffers injury from anxiety. Although the
patient may look well, he is not well. If his arm were broken
and in a sling, he would have sympathizers; but when the trou-
ble is with nerves and glands, the damage cannot be seen and
sympathizers are few.
To recover, the mind must be relieved of the pressures of
anxiety, guilt, fear, and worry. This relief comes when helpful
counsel and guidance is available from a minister or physician
who takes the weak, trembling hand of the sufferer and places
it in the hand of the Great Physician.
There is a form of treatment, however, that is an agency
for evil. Speaking of the kind of mind cure we now call hyp-
notism, Ellen G. White wrote: "This method of cure has been
employed by persons who were ignorant of its real nature and
tendency, and who believed it to be a means of benefit to the
sick. But the so-called science is based upon false principles. It
is foreign to the nature and spirit of Christ. It does not lead
to Him who is life and salvation."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 242.
In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were beguiled and
deceived by Satan through the hypnotic power of suggestion.
Their minds were attracted away from Christ and His Word
to the impostor who promised to give more than God could
give.
Today people listen to false physicians and healers and sub-
scribe to new and subtle philosophies of life which turn the
mind away from the only sure Source of help and healing. To
do this is to be deceived as Eve was. Gen. 3:13 ; 1 Tim. 2:14.
Who alone can heal?
The Christian whose mind has been given up to loose
thinking has a job to do in developing stability of
thought, action, and self-control. God cannot do this for
him.
"Satan is ever seeking to impress and if we would be kept by the power
and control the mind, and none of us of God we must be obedient to all His
are safe except as we have a constant requirements."—"Testimonies," Vol. 4,
connection with God. We must momen- p. 542.
tarily receive supplies from heaven,
59
The Mental Outlook
LESSON 7
November 14
Part 7
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
1. True or False:
a.
The way I think has nothing to do with the way
I feel
b.
The way I feel has nothing to do with my health.
c.
My health has nothing to do with my spiritual-
ity
2.
Complete: "True faith rests on the
con-
tained in the
of God, and those only who
obey that
can claim its glorious
3.
Complete the sentences :
a.
God's promises are true and trustworthy and "not
" but
b.
"Not one of them
c.
They are scattered "like pearls
)1
d.
"The Bible is full of
promise."
e.
"The unfailing promises of God
of
',
4. Name the book and the page from which these
promises were taken:
a.
"The life of God in the soul is man's only
hope."—
, page
b.
"The love which Christ diffuses through the
whole being is a vitalizing power "—
page
Have you read this book through?
5. Complete:
The troubled heart finds
and
when it
the
and
of the gracious Lord.
6. What kind of mind cure is dangerous
Why?
ANSWERS:
•zuspoudAH (co)
.
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9 TT/ abed„'2tureaH Jo .insTum
eq,/,„ •ci
T
abed „ulleaH
Ailepumi eui,„ .e (v) •auead
43apad
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:scue2 :pp
!s
2
eRPM
panes ail; R2nozo fie
.
3 i1
e
;
MAI "cl
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(c) .saspuoid
'pion
'paotA 'sasituoid (z) •asre; .3 :asp; •q taste;
.
e (j)
60
LESSON 8
November 21
as
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LANDMARK DOCTR NE
BROAD ASPECTS OF TEMPERANCE
.41)
"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now
they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." 1 Corinthians
9:25.
Temperance is a positive principle of
healthful living broad in its scope and
aloof from mere taboos. Temperance is
self-control, sanctified restraint working at
every intelligent level of life on behalf of
physical, mental, and spiritual health—for
sanity and survival. It chooses the good in
place of the evil and turns its back upon
alcohol, tobacco, and dope.
There are two ingredients to temperance.
One of the best definitions is as follows:
"True temperance teaches us to dispense en-
tirely with everything hurtful and to use
judiciously that which is healthful."—Tem-
perance, page 138.
If we understood how important tem-
perance is to our very survival and exis-
tence we would pay more attention to this
principle.
"Excessive indulgence in eating, drinking,
sleeping, or seeing, is sin. The harmonious
healthy action of all the powers of body
and mind results in happiness; and the
more elevated and refined the powers, the
more pure and unalloyed the happiness."
—Ibid.
"God's people are to learn the meaning
of temperance in all things. They are to
practice temperance in eating and drinking
and dressing. All self-indulgence is to be cut
away from their lives. Before they can
really understand the meaning of true sanc-
tification and of conformity to the will of
Christ, they must, by cooperating with
God, obtain the mastery over wrong habits
and practices."—Ibid., pp. 138, 139.
Physical health and spiritual growth re-
sult from the exercise of restraint in daily
choices at the breakfast, dinner, and supper
table, at the workbench and desk, in dress-
ing, and in the use of every organ of the
body.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Motivation for Good Living
2 Cor. 5:14
2.
Avoiding Extremes
2 Tim. 1:7
3.
Intemperance of Our Times
Luke 21:34,35
4.
Victims of Intemperance
Lev. 10:1-11
5.
Stimulants and Narcotics
Ex. 20:13
6.
Temperance, a Safeguard
1 Cor. 9:25
61
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Part 1
MOTIVATION FOR
GOOD LIVING
2 Cor. 5:14
THINK IT THROUGH
Sunday
November 15
"It is Christ's love that controls me." Goodspeed.
The love principle is expressed in two directions—in acts
that honor God and in acts that bless our neighbors. Matt.
22:35-40.
"We are to act from a moral and religious standpoint. We
are to be temperate in all things, because an incorruptible
crown, a heavenly treasure, is before us.
"As Christ's followers, we should, in eating and drinking, act
from
principle."—Temperance,
page 213. An illustration that
still speaks with force is the case of young Daniel. See Daniel 1.
To live by principle is distinct from living by strong im-
pulses of the fleeting moment or by feelings. Many times "your
feelings, your impressions, your emotions, are not to be trusted,
for they are not
reliable."—Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 513. But prin-
ciple is always a safe guide. Many, with regard to diet and dress
and entertainment, follow inclination and the fashions and
practices of the world rather than consulting principle and the
will of God.
The kind of life most conducive to good health is described
in Isa. 58:6-8. The last part of verse 7 records the call of God
to the Christian to hide not himself from his own flesh. We
are to love our neighbors as ourselves, •that is, with the same
concern. It is not that we are to disregard our own needs and
well-being, but rather that we should have the same concern
for the needs and well-being of others that we have for our own.
Religious enthusiasts may be inclined to deny the body
nec-
essary
food and clothing. This is not good religion but a form
of Pharisaism. God wants us to be healthy and happy.
What should be the controlling motivation in all Chris-
tian living? Is love an emotion? A principle? Both?
Do you live as you please—for yourself? Or please as
you live—please God?
"The law of God requires that man
shall love God supremely, and his
neighbor as himself. When through the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is
perfectly done, we shall be complete
in Christ."—Ellen G. White Comments,
"SDA Bible Commentary," Vol. 5, p.
1097.
"Have I not a right to do as I please
with my own body?—No, you have no
moral right, because you are violating
the laws of life and health which God
62
has given you. You are the Lord's
property, His by creation and His by
redemption. 'Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself.' The law of self-respect
and for the property of the Lord is here
brought to view. And this will lead
to respect for the obligations which
every human being is under to pre-
serve the living machinery that is so
fearfully and wonderfully made."—
"Temperance," page 213.
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Monday
November 16
Part 2
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of
AVOIDING power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
EXTREMES
"A spirit of power and love and self-control." RSV.
2 Tim. 1:7
Read Rom. 14:17.
"The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-
control."—The
Desire of Ages,
page 301. "Strength of char-
acter consists of two things—power of will and power of self-
control."—Counsels to Teachers,
page 222. "A sound mind" is
one that avoids extremes and chooses the sane pathway.
A caution is sounded by the wise man in Ecclesiastes 7:16:
"Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise:
why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?"
Clarke's
Commentary
on Ecclesiastes 7:16 observes: "Why
shouldest thou be so singular? ... You carry things to
extremes.
Why should you wish to be reputed singular and precise?"
To a conscientious physician who had eliminated essential
food from his diet, God's messenger wrote:
"Do not go to extremes in regard to the health reform. Some
of our people are very careless in regard to health reform. But
because some are far behind, you must not, in order to be an
example to them, be an extremist. You must not deprive your-
self of •that class of food which makes good blood. ... Put into
your diet something you have left out. It is your duty to do
this."—Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pages 366, 367.
"If you err, let it not be in getting as far from the people
as possible, for then you cut the thread of your influence and
can do them no good. Better err on the side of the people than
altogether away from them, for there is hope in that case that
you can carry the people with you, but there is no need of
error on either side. You need not go into the water, or into
the fire, but take the middle path, avoiding all extremes."—
Ibid.,
p. 211.
With what does Paul equate "the kingdom of God"?
Is eating and drinking of no consequence in God's king-
dom? 1 Cor. 10:31.
THINK IT THROUGH
How can we avoid the extreme or liberal posture in
healthful living?
THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD
What road is meant?
The narrow road,
Of course.
Not the broad.
Who walk in the middle
Of the broad road?
Very few.
They walk to right or left of center,
Uncrowded, casual,
Because the road is broad.
Either way, it's safe—
Right or left—
On the broad road.
But on the narrow road
There's only one safe place—
The middle.
That's where the wise are walking—
In the middle of
The narrow road.
—D. A. Delafield.
63
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Tuesday
November 17
THINK IT THROUGH
"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness,
and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth."
Here an earnest admonition is given to God's children, espe-
cially those living in the last days.
Verse 34 in Weymouth's translation reads: "Take heed to
yourselves, lest your souls be weighed down with self-indul-
gence and drunkenness or the anxieties of this life, and that
day come upon you, suddenly, like a falling trap." See also
Testimonies,
Vol. 4, p. 31.
There is no support in Scripture for the use of beverage
alcohol. John 2:1-11 and 1 Tim. 5:23 do not contradict Prov.
23:29-35. Read and compare all three passages.
The Wine of Cana.
"The wine created by Christ at this time
[at the marriage feast in Cana] was the best wine those present
had ever tasted, but it was entirely free from all fermentation.
Christ Himself had forbidden the use of fermented drink, say-
ing: 'Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons
with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation,
lest ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout your gen-
erations.' "—Ellen G. White,
The Signs of the Times,
Septem-
ber 6, 1899.
The Wine Recommended by Paul.
"Fermented liquor con-
fuses the senses and perverts the powers of the being. God is
dishonored when men have not sufficient respect for them-
selves to practice strict temperance. Fermented wine is not a
natural production. The Lord never made it, and with its
production He has nothing to do. Paul advised Timothy to
take a little wine for his stomach's sake and oft infirmities, but
he meant the unfermented juice of the grape. He did not advise
Timothy to take what the Lord had prohibited. . . .
"Be assured that He did not make intoxicating wine on the
occasion of His first miracle. He gave to those present a drink
which it is safe to give to all humanity,—the pure juice of the
grape. Christ never placed a glass of fermented liquor to His
lips or to the lips of His disciples. Drunkenness was rare in
Palestine, but Christ looked down the ages, and saw in every
generation what the use of wine would do for the users, there-
fore at this feast He set a right example."—Ibid.
What sins are to characterize the last days?
It was Johann Heinrich Voss who wrote: "Who loves
not women, wine, and song, Remains a fool his whole
life long." This has been wrongly ascribed to Martin
Luther as it has been wrongly ascribed to the Bible that
beverage alcohol is Christian.
Part 3
INTEMPERANCE OF
OUR TIMES
Luke 21:34,35
"Tea, coffee, tobacco, and alcohol we
must present as sinful indulgences. . . .
Tea, coffee, tobacco, beer, wine, and
all spirituous liquors are not to be taken
64
moderately, but discarded."—Ellen G.
White, Manuscript 5, 1881, quoted in
the "Review and Herald," June 25,
1959.
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Wednesday
November 18
Part 4
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, offended God and
VICTIMS OF lost their lives because of their intemperance and pre-
INTEMPERANCE sumption. See Lev. 10:1-11.
Lev. 10:1-11
Read Matt. 14:3-12.
"Nadab and Abihu would never have committed that fatal
sin had they not first become partially intoxicated by the free
use of wine. . . . They could not discern the difference between
the sacred and the common....
"When intoxicants are used, the same effects will follow as
in the case of those priests of Israel. The conscience will lose
its sensibility to sin, and a process of hardening to iniquity will
most certainly take place, till the common and the sacred will
lose all difference of
significance."—Patriarchs and Prophets,
pages 361, 362.
"God has not changed. He is as particular and exact in His
requirements now as He was in the days of Moses. But in the
sanctuaries of worship in our day, with the songs of praise,
the prayers, and the teaching from the pulpit, there is not
merely strange fire, but positive defilement. Instead of truths
being preached with holy unction from God, it is sometimes
spoken under the influence of tobacco and brandy. Strange fire
indeed! Bible truth and Bible holiness are presented to the peo-
ple, and prayers are offered to God, mingled with the stench
of tobacco ! Such incense is most acceptable to Satan! . . .
"Professed Christians eat and drink, smoke and chew to-
bacco, and become gluttons and drunkards, to gratify appetite,
and still talk of overcoming as Christ overcame!"—Ellen G.
White Comments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 1,
p.
1111.
Intemperance and the indulgence of appetite are related to
criminal action. Read Matthew 14:3-12. When John the Bap-
tist was beheaded, Herod gave his guests at the feast "oppor-
tunity to speak in the prisoner's behalf. . . . They were too
besotted to interpose a remonstrance.... They had given them-
selves up to feasting and drunkenness until the senses were
benumbed....
"Oh, how often has the life of the innocent been sacrificed
through the intemperance of those who should have been guard-
ians of justice! He who puts the intoxicating cup to his lips
makes himself responsible for all the injustice he may commit
under its besotting power. . . . Those who have jurisdiction
over the lives of their fellowmen should be held guilty of a
crime when they yield to intemperance. All who execute the
laws should be lawkeepers. They should be men of self-control.
They need to have full command of their phsyical, mental, and
moral powers, that they may possess vigor of intellect, and a
high sense of justice."—The
Desire of Ages,
pages 221, 222.
Who were the objects of divine wrath when common
and sacred fire were mingled in the sanctuary?
THINK IT THROUGH
Who might have been justly punished at Herod's feast
instead of John the Baptist? Why?
65
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Thursday
November 19
Part 5
STIMULANTS AND
NARCOTICS
Ex. 20:13
"Thou shalt not kill."
"Thou shalt not commit murder." Rotherham.
Clarke's
Commentary
on Ex. 20:13 reads: "All
riot
and
ex-
cess,
all
drunkenness
and
gluttony,
all
inactivity
and
slothful-
ness,
and all
superstitious mortification
and
self-denials,
by
which life may be destroyed or shortened; all these are point-
blank sins against the
sixth
commandment."
Anything that shortens or destroys human life—whether
our own or another's—is "point-blank" sin against the sixth
commandment. The use of heroin, LSD, pot (marijuana), and
tobacco would be included. The use of tea, coffee, and cola
drinks is harmful, not alone because of their enslaving nar-
cotic properties, but because they alternately stimulate and
depress the human nervous system, weakening and damaging
it and the human brain.
Three areas of indulgence appeal to the victim of appetite:
(1) condiments; (2) tea and coffee; (3) tobacco. Looking at
each one we observe:
Condiments.
"In this fast age, the less exciting the food, the
better. Condiments are injurious in their nature. Mustard, pep-
per, spices, pickles, and other things of a like character, irritate
the stomach and make the blood feverish and impure. .. . Soon
ordinary food does not satisfy the appetite. The system feels a
want, a craving, for something more stimulating."—The
Min-
istry of Healing,
page 325.
Tea and Coffee.
"Tea acts as a stimulant and, to a certain
extent, produces intoxication. The action of coffee and many
other popular drinks is similar.. . .
"What seems to be strength is only nervous excitement.
When the influence of the stimulant is gone, the unnatural
force abates, and the result is a corresponding degree of languor
and debility.
"The continued use of these nerve irritants is followed by
headache, wakefulness, palpitation of
the
heart, indigestion,
trembling, and many other evils; for they wear away the life
forces."—Ibid., p. 326.
Tobacco.
"Tobacco is a slow, insidious, but most malignant
poison. In whatever form it is used, it tells upon the constitu-
tion. . . . Its use excites a thirst for strong drink and in many
cases lays the foundation for the liquor habit."—/bid., pp. 327,
328.
Consider this: The waste of money and energy and life itself
involved in the use of tea, coffee, and tobacco is colossal. No
human being needs these poisons.
The use of tobacco by youth is increasing. "To this cause
in no small degree is owing the physical, mental, and moral
deterioration which is becoming such a cause of
alarm."—Ibid.,
pp. 328,329.
What commandment was given to protect and preserve
human life?
THINK IT THROUGH
Which pleasure is more enduring and satisfying: To
indulge appetite? To control it?
66
Broad Aspects of Temperance
LESSON 8
Friday
November 20
Part 6
TEMPERANCE,
A SAFEGUARD
1 Cor. 9:25
THINK IT THROUGH
"And
every
man that striveth for the mastery is tem-
perate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corrup-
tible crown; but we an incorruptible."
Temperance is a virtue which characterizes every true be-
liever. Notice three points:
1.
"Our first duty toward God and our fellow beings is that
of self-development."—Temperance, page 137.
2.
"That time is spent to good account which is directed to
the establishment and preservation of sound physical and men-
tal health."—Ibid.
3.
"We cannot afford to dwarf or cripple a single function
of mind or body by overwork or by abuse of any part of the
living machinery."—Ibid.
"Intemperance, in the true sense of the word, is at the foun-
dation of the larger share of the ills of life, and it annually
destroys its tens of thousands. For intemperance is not limited
to the use of intoxicating liquors; it has a broader meaning, and
includes the hurtful indulgence of any appetite or passion."—
Ibid.
Temperance is a safeguard against the creeping moral paraly-
sis and physical and mental decline of millions of moderns.
While the great nations are spending billions to erect strong
defense systems against intercontinental missiles for physical
protection of human life, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
has a goal to safeguard the church and the world from intem-
perance, disease, and premature death. How well are we suc-
ceeding? Is there need for enlarging our temperance witness?
Temperance has an important place in the ladder of Chris-
tian perfection. 2 Peter 1:4-10. In the believer's life "knowl-
edge" precedes "temperance," and "patience" follows it. Here
is announced a physiological truth. A knowledgeable man will
be temperate and a temperate man will be patient. Temperance
is the fruit of divine knowledge. So the words of Peter become
stairs upon which to climb to a safer and happier life.
What is meant by Paul's expression, "Temperate in
all things"?
Think of the temperance principle in the light of the
following statement in "Counsels on Diet and Foods,"
page 333. Do you own this book? Is one piece of simple
pie harmful? or too much pie? or pie eaten too often? Is
there anything wrong with simple desserts per se?
"Plain, simple pie may serve as des-
sert, but when one eats two or three
pieces merely to gratify an inordinate
appetite, he unfits himself for the ser-
vice of God. Some, after partaking
Te
Thio
-
ely of other food, will take dessert,
not because they need it, but because
it tastes good. If they are asked to take
a second piece, the temptation is too
great to be resisted, and two or three
pieces of pie are added to the load
placed upon the already overworked
stomach. He who will do this has never
educated himself to practice self-denial.
The victim of appetite is so wedded to
his own way that he cannot see the
injury he is doing to himself."—"Coun-
sels on Diet and Foods," page 333.
67
89
(1)
to act, moral, religious, eating, drinking, principle. (2) a. self-control; b. middle path, ex-
tremes. (3) a. false; b. false; c. false. (4) a. never, sin, intoxicated, wine; b. changed, particular,
exact, requirements. (5) Anything that shortens or destroys human life is a sin against the sixth
commandment. (6) a. self-development; b. establishing and preserving sound physical and mental
health; c. overwork or abuse of living machinery.
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LESSON 9
November 28
THE APPETITE AND HEALTH
"Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies
at the foundation of a large share of the feebleness which is apparent everywhere."—
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 135.
The indulgence of appetite while largely
a sin of the world about us is also a sin of
the church—a sin so grave, in fact, as to
be responsible for interfering with the great
closing work of the third angel's message.
"The health reform, I was shown, is a
part of the third angel's message. . . . I saw
that we as a people must make an advance
move in this great work. Ministers and peo-
ple must act in concert. God's people are
not prepared for the loud cry of the third
angel. They have a work to do for them-
selves which they should not leave for God
to do for them. . . . Gluttony is the pre-
vailing sin of this age. . . . The lower pro-
pensities have ruled men and women.
"In order to be fitted for translation, the
people of God must know themselves. . . .
They should ever have the appetite in sub-
jection to the moral and intellectual organs.
The body should be servant to the mind,
and not the mind to the
body."—Testimo-
nies,
Vol. 1, pp. 486, 487.
Wrote Ellen White: "All was lost when
Adam yielded to the power of appetite. The
Redeemer, in whom was united both the
human and the divine, stood in Adam's
place, and endured a terrible fast of nearly
six weeks. The length of this fast is the
strongest evidence of the extent of the sin-
fulness and power of debased appetite upon
the human family."—Ellen G. White Com-
ments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 5, p.
1079.
"It is a painful fact that habits of self-
gratification at the expense of health, and
the weakening of moral power, are holding
in the bonds of slavery at the present time
a large share of the Christian world."—
Ibid.,
p. 1080.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Simplicity, a Factor
2 Cor. 11:3
2.
A Simple Diet
1 Cor. 10:31
3.
The Original Diet
Gen. 1:29
4.
Additions to Man's Bill of Fare
Gen. 3:18 (last part); 9:3, 4
5.
The Ideal Diet for Man
6.
Emergency Situations
69
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Sunday
November 22
Part 1
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
SIMPLICITY, Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be cor-
A FACTOR rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
2 Cor. 11:3
THINK IT THROUGH
Simplicity—is_a_Christian_ virtue. The Biblical expressions,
"The simplicity that is in Christ"
(2 Cor. 11:3) and, "In sim-
plicity and godly sincerity . . . we have had our conversation
in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward" (2 Cor.
1:12) need to be understood by Christians. Paul is here de-
scribing the Christian life unspoiled by artificiality and with
undivided allegiance.
Simplicity will mark (1) the personal manner and appear-
ance, (2) the dress, (3) the diet, (4) the recreation, (5) the
business dealings, (6) the witnessing, and (7) the worship, of
every Christian.
God loves to see simplicity in the church. See
Early Writings,
page 115. The early denominations lost much of their power
by yielding it, and Seventh-day Adventists must never get
above it.
The profound things in religion and philosophy are simple.
The great things of God are simply conceived and simply
wrought. A converted man has a simple faith like a little child.
Matt. 18:3. The terms of God's requirements in the new cove-
nant are simplicity itself—believe and follow and live.
Simplicity marked the life and ministry of John the Bap-
tist. "The simplicity of his dress . . . was a standing rebuke
to the extravagance and display of the Jewish priests, and of
the people generally. His diet, purely vegetable, of locusts and
wild honey, was a rebuke to the indulgence of appetite and
the gluttony that everywhere
prevailed."—Testimonies,
Vol.
3,
p. 62.
Jesus said that John was a great man. Matt. 11:7-11. In
what did his greatness consist? "He closed his mind to the
mass of tradition presented by the teachers of the Jewish
nation, and opened it to the wisdom which comes from above."
—Counsels to Teachers,
page 445. John's character and fearless
testimony were the fruit of simple faith and surrendered obe-
dience to the expressed will of God. Seventh-day Adventists
are to do a work of reform similar to John's. We should study
his life and learn from his simplicity. See
Testimonies,
Vol.
3,
pp. 61-63.
How did Paul live before the believers in Corinth?
2 Cor. 1:12.
Human beings with their complex ways of thinking
and living find it difficult to exercise simple faith and to
live a simple, uncomplicated Christian life. But does sim-
plicity mean shallow thinking, shallow views and ideas
about God and the church? Is not simplicity compatible
with true greatness of thought and achievement?
70
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Monday
November 23
Paul urged all Christians to eat and drink to God's glory.
Ellen White wrote:
"In eating, dressing, . . . we want to preserve the simplicity
of true
godliness."—Testimonies to Ministers,
page Irrifow
can this be done? We must presuppose a knowledge of God's
will for us in this regard and a study of the principles which
should regulate and modify the dress and diet. The diet origi-
nally given to man in Eden before sin entered was simple, ade-
quate, and satisfying. See Gen. 1:27-30.
"We learn from the divine record that man was to eat of
the products of both field and tree, in other words of grain,
nuts, and fruit; the animals, to eat of 'every green herb,' vege-
tables, or green plants, and grass.
"The wording of this regulation reveals that it was not the
will of God that man should slaughter animals for food, or
that animals should prey upon one another; consequently, the
violent and often painful destruction of life by man and animals
is a result of the entry of sin into the world."—SDA
Bible
Commentary,
on Gen. 1:29.
Factors working against simplicity in diet would include:
1.
Irregularities in Eating.
"Regularity in eating should be
carefully observed. Nothing should be eaten between meals,
no confectionery, nuts, fruits, or food of any kind. Irregularities
in eating destroy the healthful tone of the digestive organs, to
the detriment of health and cheerfulness."—The
Ministry of
Healing,
page 384.
2.
Too Much Variety at One Meal.
"There should not be
a great variety at any one meal, for this encourages overeating
and causes indigestion."—Ibid., p. 299.
3.
Serving Food in Courses.
"Custom has decreed that the
food shall be placed upon the table in courses. . . . If all the
food intended for a meal is placed on the table at the begin-
ning, one has opportunity to make the best choice."—Ibid.,
p. 306.
4.
Eating Too Heartily.
"Many who discard flesh meats and
other gross and injurious articles think that because their food
is simple and wholesome they may indulge appetite without
restraint, and they eat to excess, sometimes to gluttony. This
is an error. The digestive organs should not be burdened with
a quantity or quality of food which it will tax the system to
appropriate."—Ibid.
May the Christian dishonor God by his habits of eat-
ing and drinking?
Alexander the Great fell through indulging appetite.
"Testimonies," Vol. 4, p. 348. Perverted appetite de-
stroyed the antediluvians. "Ibid.," Vol. 3, p. 162. Millions
today are destroyed by yielding to appetite. "Temper-
ance," page 12. Thousands of God's people are overcome
by it. "Testimonies," Vol. 3, p. 473.
71
Part 2
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye
A SIMPLE DIET do, do all to the glory of God."
1 Cor. 10:31
THINK IT THROUGH
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Tuesday
November 24
Part 3
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
THE ORIGINAL DIET bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding
Gen. 1:29 seed; to you it shall be for meat."
The grains, fruits, and nuts of the fields and forests and
groves of the earth are still the best sources of man's food
supply—and the most nutritious and delicious. This was true
not simply for the first generation of mankind, but it is true
for mankind today. With the exploding world population (over
3,500,000,000 in 1970) the earth's supply of available foods must
increase dramatically to prevent the spread of famine. Plant
foods can conceivably supply this need. Animal products in
the form of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products are
inadequate and will remain so. Wrote Ellen White:
"The Lord has given His life to the trees and vines of His
creation. . . . We are to regard the trees laden with fruit as
the gift of God, just as much as though He placed the fruit in
our hands."—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Com-
mentary,
Vol. 1, p. 1081.
God never intended to feed the human race with the flesh
of dead animals.
"Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen
for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and
natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nour-
ishing. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a
vigor of intellect, that are not afforded by a more complex
and stimulating
diet."—Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 363.
"He will teach us how to prepare wholesome food free from
the taint of flesh meat."—/bid.
If special care and selection is exercised, plant foods may
still prove to be an adequate supplier of our dietary needs—
especially with soybean products available and the Vitamin B12,
so essential in good nutrition, readily obtainable as a food sup-
plement to enrich certain cereal foods.
What three food sources constituted the original diet
of man?
THINK IT THROUGH
Are the chances for longer, fuller life greater or less
with a vegetarian diet? Why?
72
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Wednesday
November 25
Part 4
ADDITIONS TO
MAN'S BILL
OF FARE
Gen. 3:18 (last
part); 9:3, 4
THINK IT THROUGH
"And thou shalt eat the herb of the field."
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof,
shall ye not eat."
Read Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14.
After the fall of man, vegetables were allowed on man's bill
of fare. These "green herbs" were originally for the beasts.
"We evidently are to conclude that the quantity and quality
of grains and nuts and fruits originally given to man were, as
a result of the curse, reduced to such an extent that man would
be required to look to the herbs for a portion of his daily
food. This change may also have been due in part to the loss
of certain elements from the tree of life, to a change in climate,
and perhaps most of all to man's sentence to hard labor in the
process of earning a livelihood."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on
Gen. 3:18.
Regarding flesh food: "It was not till after the Flood that
God gave man permission to eat of the flesh of animals. . . .
Even ancient pagan legends speak of a golden age of inno-
cence, when man abstained from killing animals."—Ibid., on
Gen. 1:29.
The use of meat was permitted in the emergency after the
Flood—"as once I gave you the green growth" (Gen. 9:3,
Moffatt), that is, in the same sense as in the emergency of
man's fall into sin God gave him vegetables. But the average
age of postdiluvian man as compared with the antidiluvian was
greatly diminished. Compare Genesis 5 and 11.
"This [Gen. 9:3, 4] implies the newness of the permission
to eat flesh food, in addition to the vegetables and fruits that
had originally been destined to be man's food. Not only was
the temporary absence of plant life, as a result of the Flood,
the reason for God's permission to man to supplement his
vegetarian diet with meat, but probably also the fact that the
Flood had so thoroughly changed this earth's outward form
and diminshed its fertility that in some lands, such as the far
north, it would not produce sufficient vegetarian food to sus-
tain the human
race."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Gen. 9:3.
What supplementary foods did God permit man to
eat in emergency situations?
Has the passing of the centuries increased or dimin-
ished the purity of flesh foods?
"This distinction [between clean and
unclean beasts at the time of the Flood]
must have been known to early man
so well that it was not necessary for
God to draw Noah's special attention
to it. It was only when this distinction
had been lost through the centuries of
man's estrangement from God that new
and written directives were issued re-
garding clean and unclean animals
(see Lev. 11; Deut. 14)."—"SDA Bible
Commentary," on Gen. 9:3.
73
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Thursday
November 26
Part 5
THE IDEAL DIET
FOR MAN
THINK IT THROUGH
The ideal diet is the one of the Creator's "original design"
derived from the "natural products of the earth."
The Lord's messenger was shown in vision "again and again
. . . that God is trying to lead us back, step by step, to His
original design—that man should subsist upon the natural prod-
ucts of the
earth."—Counsels on Health,
page 450.
"Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord,
meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to
form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view,
and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that
in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the
light which God has been pleased to give
us."—Counsels on
Diet and Foods,
pages 380, 381.
"It is for their own good that the Lord counsels the remnant
church to discard the use of flesh meats, tea, and coffee, and
other harmful foods. There are plenty of other things on which
we can subsist that are wholesome and good."—Ibid., p. 381.
We are counseled to leave meat alone because of the increase
of disease in the animal kingdom.
"Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly
objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing.
"Animals are becoming more and more diseased, and it will
not be long until animal food will be discarded by many be-
sides Seventh-day Adventists."—Ibid., p. 384.
"Could you know just •the nature of the meat you eat,
could you see the animals when living from which the flesh is
taken when dead, you would turn with loathing from your
flesh meats."—Ibid., p. 385.
"The liability to take disease is increased tenfold by meat
eating."—Ibid., p. 386.
"From the light God has given me, the prevalence of cancer
and tumors is largely due to gross living on dead flesh."—
Ibid.,
p. 388.
Manna was given to Israel in the wilderness journey to
Canaan as better for them than flesh foods. See
The Ministry
of Healing,
page 311.
"As God gave manna from heaven to sustain the children
of Israel, so He will now give His people in different places
skill and wisdom to use the productions of these countries in
preparing foods to take the place of
meat."—Counsels on Diet
and Foods,
page 268.
What is the Lord trying to do for His people in these
last days?
You are aware of: (1) inadequate meat inspection laws
in most states of the United States and most countries;
(2)
the high cost of meat purchased for the family diet;
(3)
diseases transmitted by eating the flesh of animals.
What other reasons can you think of why the use of flesh
meat is hazardous to health?
74
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
Friday
November 27
Part 6
EMERGENCY
SITUATIONS
THINK IT THROUGH
Emergency conditions sometimes justify the use of clean
meats as food. This may be true in lands where flesh food is
obtainable but not fruits, vegetables, et cetera. It may also be
true in other lands where certain individuals are unable to
secure proper nourishment from natural foods. Let no one
judge another and be critical of him.
"In certain cases of illness or exhaustion it may be thought
best to use some meat, but great care should be taken to secure
the flesh of healthy animals. It has come to be a very serious
question whether it is safe to use flesh food at all in this age
of the world....
"A meat diet is not the most wholesome of diets, and yet
I would not take the position that meat should be discarded
by everyone. Those who have feeble digestive organs can often
use meat, when they cannot eat vegetables, fruit, or porridge."
—Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pages 394, 395.
When meat is no longer used, what foods are best to re-
place it? The answer is, a variety of foods.
"When flesh food is discarded, its place should be supplied
with a variety of grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits that will
be both nourishing and appetizing. This is especially necessary
in the case of those who are weak or who are taxed with con-
tinuous labor. In some countries where poverty abounds, flesh
is the cheapest food. Under these circumstances the change will
be made with greater difficulty; but it can be effected. We
should, however, consider the situation of the people and the
power of lifelong habit, and should be careful not to urge even
right ideas unduly. None should be urged to make the change
abruptly. The place of meat should be supplied with wholesome
foods that are inexpensive."—The
Ministry of Healing,
pages
316, 317.
Are real emergency situations which justify the use
of meat rare or numerous?
How can one verify what pleases the Lord? In health
reform? In any kind of reform? The question of the con-
trol of the appetite is a large one. The true follower of
Jesus will, like Paul, bring under control the body with
its appetites and passions. "Live and act as sons of Light,"
said the apostle, "and learn in your own experience what
is fully pleasing to the Lord." Eph. 5:8-10, Weymouth.
"The intellectual, the moral, and the
physical powers are depreciated by the
habitual use of flesh meats. Meat eat-
ing deranges the system, beclouds the
intellect, and blunts the moral sensibil-
ities. We say to you, dear brother and
sister, your safest course is to let meat
alone."—"Testimonies," Vol. 2, p. 64.
"Flesh food also is harmful. Its nat-
urally stimulating effect should be a
sufficient argument against its use; and
the almost universally diseased condi-
tion of animals makes it doubly ob-
jectionable. It tends to irritate the
nerves and to excite the passions, thus
giving the balance of power to the
lower propensities."—"Education," page
203.
75
The Appetite and Health
LESSON 9
November 28
Part 7
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
1. Name seven areas of life in which Christian sim-
plicity is called for.
a.
b.
c.
2. Name four habits of eating that work against sim-
plicity in diet.
a.
b.
3. According to
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 363,
there are advantages provided by a simple vegetarian
diet. Fill in the missing words.
a.
These foods . . . impart a
b.
A power of
c.
A vigor of
4. Choose the correct completion : Meat was permit-
ted after the Flood to
a.
satisfy man's appetite;
b.
pro-
long his life;
c.
shorten his life;
d.
supply adequate
food
5. Complete: "Among those who are waiting for the
of the Lord
eating will
eventually be
)1
6. True or False:
a.
No conditions can justify the use of meat
b.
Meat eating is becoming safer because of rigid
meat inspection laws and enforcement
c.
The person who stops eating flesh foods should
be able to supply adequate substitutes
ANSWERS:
'anal. .3 !age; .q !asp; .e
(9) .keneve auop
4
3eaus '2u3tuoo (9) •E. (v) •paila3u! *a !aouuinpua •q :T442uai3s .e (E) •Appeaq o03
2u9ea •3) :sasinoa
2upuas •3 :63apen tyntu 004 •ci :A4pEin2aii!
(z) •dp4sionn .2 !2u!ssauipin .3
!s2uneap ssamsnq
-a
:uoDcanai •p !;ag.
'3
ssaip •ci :a3ueleadde pue
IDUUEUI puosiad E
(
76
LESSON 10
December 5
t SE
swAl rs
THE APPETITE AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
10
"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon
you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face
of the whole earth." Luke 21:34, 35.
The question—Is sin related in any way
to man's habits of eating and drinking?—
can be answered in the light of this:
"Since the first surrender to appetite,
mankind have been growing more and more
self-indulgent, until health has been sacri-
ficed on the altar of appetite. The inhabi-
tants of the antediluvian world were in-
temperate in eating and drinking. They
would have flesh meats, although God had
at that time given man no permission to
eat animal food. They ate and drank till
the indulgence of their depraved appetite
knew no bounds, and they became so cor-
rupt that God could bear with them no
longer. Their cup of iniquity was full, and
He cleansed the earth of its moral pollution
by a flood. . . .
"The gratification of unnatural appetite
led to the sins that caused the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah. God ascribes the
fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunk-
enness. Indulgence of appetite and passion
was the foundation of all their sins."—
Counsels on Health,
pages 109, 110.
The "indulgence of appetite and passion
was the foundation of all their sins." This
key sentence explains the relationship of
bad physical habits to character develop-
ment. It suggests: (1) the control of the
body over the mind; (2) the surrender of
self-respect to self-gratification; (3) the
worship of self and its sinful claims above
God and the claims of His gospel.
Consider Esau and his experience with
unrestrained appetite: "Esau lusted for a
favorite dish, and sacrificed his birthright
to gratify appetite. . . . There are very
many who are like Esau. He represents a
class who have a special, valuable blessing
within their reach,—the immortal inheri-
tance . . . ,—but who have so long indulged
their appetites, passions, and inclinations,
that their power to discern and appreciate
the value of eternal things is weakened."
—Testimonies,
Vol. 2, p. 38.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Overeating, a Problem Today
Matt. 24:37-39
2.
Jesus' Victory Over Appetite
Matt. 4:1-4
3.
The Flesh Versus the Spirit
Gal. 5:16, 17
4.
Strength in the Cross
Luke 9:23
5.
Life Through Death
John 12:24, 25
6.
"This is the Victory"
John 16:33
1 John 5:4
77
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Sunday
November 29
Part 1
OVEREATING, A
PROBLEM TODAY
Matt. 24:37-39
THINK IT THROUGH
"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the com-
ing of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were
before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marry-
ing and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah en-
tered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came,
and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be."
"They were taken unawares, when the Flood came and
drowned them all," is the Knox translation of verse 39. But
they were swept off their feet by their own passions and glut-
tony before the Flood waters came to drown them all. . . . Un-
stable, preoccupied with gratifying their inordinate appetites,
they sinned away probationary time, refusing to heed the star-
tling preachments of old Noah.
Today we live in an age of health- and soul-destroying glut-
tony. See
Fundamentals of Christian Education,
pages 150, 151.
"Overeating is the sin of this
age."—Counsels on Diet and
Foods,
page 133. But it has been an evil in every age. This sin
debases the physical, mental, and moral powers and is classified
with drunkenness by Jesus in Luke 21:34.
A temperate life contributes to alertness, keen thinking, and
preparation for the day of the Lord.
"The Saviour presents to us something higher to toil for
than merely what we shall eat and drink, and wherewithal we
shall be clothed. Eating, drinking, and dressing are carried
to such excess that they become crimes. They are among the
marked sins of the last days, and constitute a sign of Christ's
soon
coming."—Counsels on Health,
page 24.
Seventh-day Adventists are to take seriously the responsibil-
ity of presenting an example in happy, temperate living to the
world: "The self-denial, humility, and temperance required
of the righteous, whom God especially leads and blesses, is to
be presented to the people in contrast to the extravagent,
health-destroying habits of those who live in this degenerate
age."—Testimonies,
Vol. 3, p. 62.
Why were the antediluvians unprepared when
the Flood came?
The antediluvians had heard from Noah that
the judgment of the Flood was coming. They had
been warned. How can it be said that they were
caught unawares?
"Those who eat and work intemper-
ately and irrationally, talk and act ir-
rationally. An intemperate man cannot
be a patient man. It is not necessary to
drink alcoholic liquors in order to be
intemperate. The sin of intemperate
eating, eating too frequently, too much,
78
and of rich, unwholesome food, de-
stroys the healthy action of the di-
gestive organs, affects the brain, and
perverts the judgment, preventing ra-
tional, calm, healthy thinking and act-
ing."—"Testimonies," Vol. 1, pp. 618,
619.
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Monday
November 30
Part 2
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness
JESUS' VICTORY to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted
OVER APPETITE forty days and forty nights, He was afterward anhun-
gered. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If
Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be
made bread. But He answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
Matt. 4:1-4 that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Jesus supported His teaching by His own example and self-
control. Think of the dimension of suffering He endured in the
forty-day fast in the wilderness.
"All was lost when Adam yielded to the power of appetite.
The Redeemer, in whom was united both the human and the
divine, stood in Adam's place, and endured a terrible fast of
nearly six weeks. The length of this fast is the strongest evi-
dence of the extent of the sinfulness and power of debased
appetite upon the human family. . . .
"If the power of appetite is so strong upon the human fam-
ily, and its indulgence so fearful that the Son of God subjected
Himself to such a test, how important that we feel the ne-
cessity of having appetite under the control of reason."—Ellen
G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 5, p. 1079.
Paul was aware of the need for temperance in all things.
He imitated the Example. See 1 Cor. 9:24-27. "Paul was a
health reformer. Said he: 'I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached
to others, I myself should be a castaway.' He felt that a re-
sponsibility rested upon him to preserve all his powers in their
strength, that he might use them to the glory of God. If Paul
was in danger from intemperance, we are in greater danger,
because we do not feel and realize as he did the necessity of
glorifying God in our bodies and spirits, which are His."—
Testimonies,
Vol. 4, p. 454.
Peter viewed fleshly lusts as warring against the soul. "Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11.
The wise man gives good counsel: "Be not among wine-
bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and
the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe
a man with rags." Prov. 23:20, 21.
On the other hand, many—especially among the fairer sex
—undermine their health by carrying dieting to extremes and
robbing the body of necessary food. Vanity can be as destruc-
tive of health as overeating! Is this
glorifying
God?
How long did Jesus fast in the wilderness?
Christ came to grips with the power of appetite after
a fast of nearly six weeks, and He gained the victory.
If He could exercise such self-discipline, without using
divine power in His own behalf ("The Desire of Ages,"
page 119), what excuse have any of us for failure on this
point?
79
THINK IT THROUGH
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Tuesday
December 1
Part 3
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not
THE FLESH VERSUS fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
THE SPIRIT the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would."
"These cravings of our earthly nature conflict with the
Spirit, and the Spirit with our earthly nature—they are
two contrary principles—so that you cannot do what you
Gal. 5:16, 17 wish." Verse 17, Twentieth Century New Testament.
A battle rages in every Christian's life. See Gal. 5:16-25;
Eph. 6:10-18. This battle is of the body as much as of the
spirit.
"The seemingly interminable warfare goes on, the struggle
between the inclination to do right and the inclination to do
evil. As Paul analyzed this conflict in his own past experience
he saw victory possible only through Jesus Christ (see Rom.
7:24 to
8:2)."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Gal. 5:17.
"Paul's teaching concerning the weakness of the flesh is out
of harmony with the belief that there is latent in man a force
by which he can overcome evil tendencies."—Ibid.
It is through Christ that the victory over appetite is gained,
as it is through Christ that victory over pride, bad temper,
vanity, and every other sin is gained. Christ is the answer to
the sin problem—all of the sin problem. He alone. "Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts
4:12.
But remember: "Pure religion has to do with the will. The
will is the governing power in the nature of man, bringing all
the other faculties under its sway. The will is not the taste or
the inclination, but it is the deciding power which works in
the children of men unto obedience to God or unto disobe-
dience."—Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 513.
What is the only way to prevent the living of a life
of lust and sin?
THINK IT THROUGH
A cooperative action prevails throughout the Christian
life, from beginning to end. God and man working hand
in hand—this is the invincible partnership plan. Are we
learning how to cooperate with God to become "workers
together with Him" in gaining the victory over appetite?
"The life of the Christian is not all
smooth. He has stern conflicts to meet.
Severe temptations assail him. 'The
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh.' The nearer we
come to the close of this earth's his-
80
tory, the more delusive and ensnaring
will be the attacks of the enemy. His
attacks will grow fiercer and more fre-
quent."—Ellen G. White Comments,
"SDA Bible Commentary," Vol. 6, p.
1 1 1 1.
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Wednesday
December 2
Part 4
STRENGTH IN
THE CROSS
Luke 9:23
THINK IT THROUGH
"And He said to them all, If any man will come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow Me."
"Then He said to all, 'Anyone who wants to follow Me
must put aside his own desires and conveniences and
carry his cross with him every day and keep close to
Me!' " The Living New Testament.
The cross is a symbol of our death to the world. This dying
to the world does not come without a struggle, but the effort
involved develops spiritual muscle and soul strength.
We are all to some degree like Peter, who wanted Christ
but not His cross. "The disciple shrank from fellowship with his
Lord in suffering. But in the heat of the furnace fire he was
to learn its blessing....
"Jesus . . . explained to His disciples that His own life of
self-abnegation was an example of what theirs should be. Calling
about Him, with the disciples, the people who had been linger-
ing near, He said, 'If any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'
. . . No more complete self-surrender could the Saviour's words
have pictured. But all this He had accepted for them. Jesus
did not count heaven a place to be desired while we were lost.
He left the heavenly courts for a life of reproach and insult, and
a death of shame. He who was rich in heaven's priceless trea-
sure, became poor, that through His poverty we might be rich.
We are to follow in the path He trod."—The
Desire of Ages,
pages 416, 417.
What is the man to do who would follow Jesus?
There is a cross to bear in living simply and temper-
ately. Are the words of Christ relevant to gaining ascend-
ancy over appetite?
"Before the crown must come the
cross."—"The Desire of Ages," page
422.
"Lifting the cross cuts away self from
the soul, and places man where he
learns how to bear Christ's burdens.
We cannot follow Christ without wear-
ing His yoke, without lifting the cross
and bearing it after Him. If our will is
not in accord with the divine require-
ments, we are to deny our inclinations,
give up our darling desires, and step
in Christ's footsteps."—Ellen G. White
Comments, "SDA Bible Commentary,"
Vol. 5, pp. 1090, 1091.
"The cross, the cross; lift it, . . . and
in the act of raising it you will be as-
tonished to find that it raises you, it
supports you. In adversity, privation,
and sorrow it will be a strength and a
staff to you. You will find it all hung
with mercy, compassion, sympathy, and
inexpressible love. It will prove to you
a pledge of immortality. May you be
able to say with Paul: 'God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world.' "—"Testimonies," Vol. 2, p. 47.
81
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Thursday
December 3
THINK IT THROUGH
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life
shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal."
Jesus illustrated the way to a happy Christian life. He re-
ferred to the planted seed and its fruitful harvest. "If it dies,
it makes a rich yield" is Weymouth's rendering of verse 24.
The next verse is an amplification: "He who holds his life
dear, destroys it." He is like seed that is eaten but not planted.
The seed does not reproduce or bear fruit, but the planted seed
which dies lives in the fruit it bears—on and on forever.
"All who would bring forth fruit as workers together with
Christ must first fall into the ground and die. The life must be
cast into the furrow of the world's need. Self-love, self-interest,
must perish. And the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-
preservation. The husbandman preserves his grain by casting
it away. So in human life. To give is to live. The life that will
be preserved is the life that is freely given in service to God
and man. Those who for Christ's sake sacrifice their life in
this world will keep it unto life eternal."—The
Desire of Ages,
pages 623, 624.
This great goal of living to bless the world and glorify God
is the prime consideration in living a life of temperance. One
cannot live for others while he is living for himself. But when
He is living for Christ and to save souls for whom Jesus died,
self dies and is plowed under in "the furrow of the world's
need" while precious fruit springs up to testify to the new and
abundant life that comes from God.
An intemperate man is seldom interested in the spiritual wel-
fare of other people—even in his own. "The end of such men
is ruin; for their appetites are their god." Phil.
3:19,
Twentieth
Century New Testament. He is not concerned about persuading
people to worship the Lord. "Their future is eternal loss, for
their god is good food." Taylor.
What happens to a wheat seed that is sown in the soil?
What happens to a self-denying life that is sown in
the furrow of human need?
Part 5
LIFE THROUGH
DEATH
John 12:24, 25
82
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
Friday
December 4
Part 6
"THIS IS THE
VICTORY"
John 16:33
1 John 5:4
THINK IT THROUGH
"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world."
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world:
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith."
"Keep up your courage," (Weymouth) ; "Be confident,"
(Berkeley) ; "Never lose heart," (Phillips) ; "Cheer up," (Tay-
lor)—all are translations of part of John 16:33.
The basis for courage and confidence is Jesus' affirmation:
"I have overcome the world," or (Phillips), "I have con-
quered the world."
In the wilderness of temptation Christ gained an outstand-
ing victory in His conquest of the world, the flesh, and the
devil. Our victory lies in this Person, whom faith is to grasp
—not in faith itself.
"Christ fought the battle upon the point of appetite, and
came off victorious; and we also can conquer through strength
derived from Him. Who will enter in through the gates into
the city ?—Not those who declare that they cannot break the
force of appetite. Christ has resisted the power of him who
would hold us in bondage; though weakened by His long fast
of forty days, He withstood temptation, and proved by this
act that our cases are not hopeless. I know that we cannot
obtain the victory alone; and how thankful we should be that
we have a living Saviour, who is ready and willing to aid us!
"A pure and noble life, a life of victory over appetite and
lust, is possible to everyone who will unite his weak, wavering
human will to the omnipotent, unwavering will of God."—
Counsels on Diet and Foods,
pages 169, 170.
We can make an entire change in our lives by God's grace
if we place our will on God's side.
What part does faith have in overcoming the world?
"If thou couldst in vision see thyself the man God
meant, thou ne'er wouldst be the man thou art—content!"
Does not the challenge of victory and eternal life demand
arousement of every faculty of mind and body and spirit?
"Will you not without delay place
yourself in right relation to God? Will
you not say, 'I will give my will to
Jesus, and I will do it now,' and from
this moment be wholly on the Lord's
side? Disregard custom and the strong
clamoring of appetite and passion.
. . . Say, 'I will believe, I do believe
that God is my helper,' and you will
find that you are triumphant in God.
By steadfastly keeping the will on the
Lord's side, every emotion will be
brought into captivity to the will of
Jesus. You will then find your feet on
solid rock. It will take, at times, every
particle of willpower which you pos-
sess; but it is God that is working for
you, and you will come forth from the
molding process a vessel unto honor."
—"Testimonies," Vol. 5, p. 514.
83
The Appetite and Character Development
LESSON 10
December 5
Part
7
1. "The Saviour presents to us something
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
to
for than merely what we shall
and
and wherewithal we shall be
7)
2. True or False:
a.
Jesus fasted for nearly six weeks to break the
power of appetite over the human family
b.
Paul felt that a responsibility rested upon him
to keep his body under control and bring it into
subjection
c.
Peter viewed fleshly lusts as warring against the
soul
3.
a.
Should the Christian be surprised if he finds that
the Christian life is one of battle and conflict?
b.
Where does the strength of victory lie?
4.
How often is the Christian to take up his cross and
follow Jesus)
5.
a.
How do we enter into spiritual life)
b.
Is spiritual life maintained in the same way?
6.
Complete:
a.
Our victory lies in this Person, whom faith is to
grasp—
b.
"How thankful we should be that we have a liv-
ing Saviour, who is
fl
c.
"A life of victory over appetite and lust, is pos-
sible to everyone who will unite his weak, wa-
vering human will
ANSWERS:
Too
Jo
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q
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(4,)
lepi43 442440.4444
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•q
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84
December 12
HEALTH AND FAMILY LIFE 11
"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the
Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Ps. 127:1.
The total health of the family should be
the concern of both parents. The family's
diet, the location of the property and the
home, the worship habits, and the recrea-
tional involvements of all concerned, the
relationship of husband and wife, parents
and children—all of these and much more
make up a home. The presence of Jesus
Christ in the family life provides the center
around which all activities may rightly
orbit.
Because the mother spends more time
with the children than the father, espe-
cially in the tender years of their child-
hood, the mother is in a position perhaps
to exert the greater influence. She it is,
with the' father's encouragement, who cre-
ates and maintains a living sense of health
consciousness.
The example of the parents in living and
thinking, and reacting healthfully to life's
challenge will do more than anything else
to influence the children to' choose to be
.
Christians. Their example will speak vol-
umes.
Remember the words' of Ellen White:
"The restoration and uplifting of humanity
begins in the home. The work of parents
underlies
every
other. Society is composed
of families, and is what the heads of fan-
ilies make it. Out of the heart are 'the
issues of life' . . . ; and the heart of the
community, of the church, and of the na-
tion is the household. The well-being of
society, the success of the church, the pros-
perity of the nation, depend upon home
influences."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page
349.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Marriage and the Eden Home
GEM. 2:15
2.
The Benediction at Cana
John 2:1,2
S. Homes lathe City or Country?
Gen. 218
4. Let's Big Mistake
hew. 13:12
S. Husband-and-wife Reitstionehips
Holt. 13:4
Gen: 2:24
Succesettri Fathers and Mothers
Col. 3:18, 19
83
Health and Family
Life
LESSON 11
Sunday
December 6
Part 1
"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the
MARRIAGE AND Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
THE EDEN HOME
Gen. 2:15
There were no cities in the very beginning—only rural sur-
roundings. The Eden home and its environs were to be an
example of what every earthly home should be in the cen-
turies that stretched ahead. God made the country. Man made
the city. The happy and healthful home institution was con-
ceived and created by Christ Himself.
Christ "ordained that men and women should be united in
holy wedlock, to rear families whose members, crowned with
honor, should be recognized as members of the family above."
—The Ministry of Healing,
page 356. Our Lord "sanctioned
marriage, recognizing it as an institution that He Himself had
established."—Ibid. It was not His intention in the beginning
that the marriage ties should ever be broken, for He declared,
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Gen.
2:24. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man
put asunder." Mark 10:9.
Divorce, while it serves a purpose in cases of marital infi-
delity (see Matt. 5:32; Mark 10:11, 12), was not known among
men until long centuries after sin entered the world. Polygamy
came in the wake of sin, as did the crimes of sodomy, child
marriage, and other perversions of the divine institution of
marriage.
Broken homes often bring about broken health. And the
heartaches, mental breakdowns, and suicides caused by divorce
can never be measured. Divorces were allowed, Jesus told the
people, because of "the hardness of your heart." Mark 10:5.
Ellen White traced the problems back to the problem-maker:
"Satan is ever ready to take advantage when any matter of
variance arises, and by moving upon the objectionable, heredi-
tary traits of haracter in husband or wife, he will try to cause
the alienation of those who have united their interests in a
solemn covenant before
God."—The Adventist Home,
page 106.
"Though difficulties, perplexities, and discouragements may
arise, let neither husba
nd nor wife harbor the thought that
their union is a mistake or a disappointment. . . . Study to
advance the happiness of each other. Let there be mutual love,
mutual forbearance."—Ibid.
"Remember, my dear brother and sister, that God is love
and that by His grace you can succeed in making each other
happy, as in your marriage pledge you promised to
do."—Ibid.,
p. 112.
Where was the first home established—in the city or
the country?
Marriages fail because human love fails. But what
of marriages where the human love is strengthened and
purified by divine love? Can they survive?
THINK IT THROUGH
86
Health and Family
Life
LESSON 11
Monday
December 7
Part 2
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of
THE BENEDICTION Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both
AT CANA Jesus was called, and His disciples, to the marriage."
John 2:1,2
Christ during His earthly ministry honored the marriage re-
lation. John 2:1-11. His presence at the wedding at Cana and
His interest in the services and the feast that followed brought
joy to His heart and happiness to others. See
The Desire of
Ages,
page 144.
At the marriage service Jesus turned the water to wine and
added His blessing 'to the festivities. "He who gave Eve to
Adam as a helpmeet, performed His first miracle at a marriage
festival. In the festal hall where friends and kindred rejoiced
together, Christ began His public ministry."—The
Ministry of
Healing,
page 356.
Paul tells us that marriage is a symbol of the union between
Christ and His church. See Eph. 5:25-33.
"Christ honored the marriage relation by making it also a
symbol of the union between Him and His redeemed ones. . . .
"The family tie is the closest, the most tender and sacred,
of any on earth. It was designed to be a blessing to mankind.
And it is a blessing wherever the marriage covenant is entered
into intelligently, in the fear of God, and with due considera-
tion for its responsibilities."—Ibid., pp. 356, 357.
People planning to get married should look beyond the joy
of "having each other"—pleasant as that may be—to respon-
sible citizenship and parenthood. They should think in terms
of (1) improving the capacity of their service to God and
men; (2) building a happy home in which their children will
learn to love God, to respect law and order, and to honor all
the races of men; (3) serving God in spirit and truth and en-
couraging their neighbors to have faith in God and His Word.
"Those who are contemplating marriage should consider
what will be the character and influence of the home they are
founding.
As they become parents, a sacred trust is committed
to them. Upon them depends in a great measure the well-being
of their children in this world, and their happiness in the world
to come. To a great extent they determine both the physical
and the moral stamp that the little ones receive. And upon
the character of the home depends the condition of society; the
weight of each family's influence will tell in the upward or the
downward scale."—Ibid., p. 357. (Italics supplied.)
What event attracted Jesus and His disciples?
THINK IT THROUGH
Is Jesus still in attendance at the marriages of con-
secrated men and women? What kind of marriages today
receive His benediction? Where are the foundations of
health and prosperity—also disease, poverty, and crime
—laid?
87
Health and Family Life
LESSON 11
Tuesday
December 8
Part 3
"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in
HOMES IN THE Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed."
CITY OR COUNTRY?
Gen. 2:8
Notice that God located the first man's home in a rural set-
ting. Adam's employment was gardening and fruit farming.
There were no cities then nor houses as we know them today.
The first couple lived in arbors they framed for themselves
from living vines.
"The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to
health. The constant liability to contact with disease, the prev-
alence of foul air, impure water, impure food, the crowded,
dark, unhealthful dwellings, are some of the many evils to be
met.
"It was not God's purpose that people should be crowded
into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 365.
The first urban center or city was built by Cain, Adam's
rebellious son and the first criminal. Gen. 4:17.
"It is worthy of note that the world's first 'city' was founded
by the world's first murderer, a perversely impenitent individual
whose life, wholly and hopelessly dedicated to evil, was spent
in defiance of God. God's plan that man should live amid nature
and behold in it the Creator's might and power was in this
way thwarted. Many present-day evils are the direct result of
the unnatural gathering together of human beings into great
cities, where man's worst instincts bear rule, and vice of every
type flourishes."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on Gen. 4:17.
Note carefully the following prophetic words:
Tide of Crime Swelling.
"The world over, cities are becoming
hotbeds of vice. On every hand are the sights and sounds of
evil. Everywhere are enticements to sensuality and dissipation.
The tide of corruption and crime is continually swelling. Every
day brings the record of violence—robberies, murders, suicides,
and crimes unnamable."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 363.
Cities Will Be Destroyed.
"I am bidden to declare the mes-
sage that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the extreme,
will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by flood. All the
world will be warned that there is a God who will display His
authority as God. His unseen agencies will cause destruction,
devastation, and death. All the accumulated riches will be as
nothingness."—Evangelism, page 27.
Where did God put the man whom He had formed?
THINK IT THROUGH
How many Seventh-day Adventists are moving out of
the crowded cities?
88
Health and Family Life
LESSON 11
Wednesday
December
9
Part 4
"Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot
LOT'S BIG MISTAKE dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent
Gen. 13:12 toward Sodom."
THINK IT THROUGH
Read Gen. 19:1-3, 12-26.
A terrible mistake was made by Lot, Abraham's nephew,
when he moved into Sodom, a city of the plains—a city in
which wealth, idleness, and moral decadence predominated.
Here he reared his family, and here they lost their spirituality.
Here their material resources increased. Here the majority of
Lot's family exchanged the riches of God for the treasures of
this life. As Lot fled the doomed city with the pitiful remnant
of his family, his wife became a pillar of salt. Gen. 19:26. His
sons and daughters—except two—perished in the fires of God
which devoured the place.
"Lot chose Sodom for his home because he saw advantages
to be, gained there from a worldly point of view. But after he
had established himself, and grown rich in earthly treasure, he
was convinced that he had made a mistake in not taking into
consideration the moral standing of the community in which
he was to make his home."—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA
Bible Commentary,
Vol. 1, p. 1092.
In view of the dangers to health and life and virtue inci-
dental to city living, the Lord has given counsel:
"Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country,
where they can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home
for themselves and their
children."—Selected Messages,
Bk. 2,
p. 142.
This move should be made prayerfully, cautiously and not
precipitously. Employment, property, school privileges, travel
problems, must all be considered, among other things. But the
Lord promises to open the way for His children.
And how far out is "country"? At the turn of the century
Takoma Park—about seven miles from Washington, D.C.—was
considered appropriate enough to build our institutions there;
Loma Linda in relation to Redlands and San Bernardino was
rural; Glendale in relation to Los Angeles was proper. Today
the cities have engulfed them. What the encroachments of the
cities will do in the future poses a great problem to the Lord's
people.
Keep in mind that the great cities need the witness of God's
light bearers and that the cities may be worked by Adventists
coming in from suburban or rural areas. See
Testimonies,
Vol.
2, p. 115;
Selected Messages,
Bk. 2, pp. 357, 358.
What was Lot's big mistake?
Have you noticed that plants growing too close to-
gether are spindly? Transplant half of them to areas
where there is more sunshine and nourishment in the soil
and observe the dramatic change.
89
Health and Family Life
LESSON 11
Part 5
HUSBAND-AND-WIFE
RELATIONSHIPS
Heb. 13:4
Gen. 2:24
THINK IT THROUGH
Thursday
December 10
"Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled:
but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be
one flesh."
Read Eph. 5:28-31.
"Everybody should think highly of marriage." Heb. 13:4,
Beck. The Scripture idealizes the blending of two lives into
one, physically as well as spiritually, but "only where Christ
reigns can there be deep, true, unselfish love. Then soul will be
knit with soul, and the two lives will blend in harmony. Angels
of God will be guests in the home, and their holy vigils will
hallow the marriage
chamber."—Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 362.
"Many parents do not obtain the knowledge that they should
in the married life. They are not guarded lest Satan take ad-
vantage of them and control their minds and their lives. They
do not see that God requires them to control their married lives
from any excesses."—Ibid., Vol. 2, p. 472.
"When the sacred nature and the claims of marriage are
understood, it will even now be approved of Heaven; and the
result will be happiness to both parties, and God will be glori-
fied."—Ibid., p.
252.
Many a marriage fails because the spouses are religiously
incompatible. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with un-
believers." 2 Cora 6:14. "Do not be mismated with unbelievers."
Norlie. And what is meant by "unbelievers"?
After quoting this text, Ellen White wrote to a sister in the
church: "The commands I have quoted are not the word of
man, but of God. Though the companion of your choice were
in all other respects worthy (which he is not), yet
he has not
accepted the truth for this time; he is an unbeliever,
and you
are forbidden of heaven to unite yourself with him. You cannot,
without peril to your soul, disregard this divine injunction."
—Testimonies,
Vol. 5, p. 364. (Italics supplied.)
"If men and women are in the habit of praying twice a day
before they contemplate marriage, they should pray four times
a day when such a step is anticipated."—Messages
to Young
People,
page 460.
What should be our attitude toward the marriage in-
stitution?
The Bible says of Solomon, "His wives turned away
his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect
with the Lord his God." 1 Kings 11:4. The king's mistake
was not polygamy alone. His wives were religiously
diverse and pagan. How could he remain true to "the
Lord his God" under such influences! The sad memory
of Solomon's apostasy is in the Bible for a purpose.
90
Health and Family Life
LESSON 11
Friday
December 11
Part 6
SUCCESSFUL
FATHERS AND
MOTHERS
Col. 3:18, 19
THINK IT THROUGH
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as
it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be
not bitter against them."
Read Eph. 5:23-29.
The husband and father occupies a unique position as head
of •the home, but "it is no evidence of manliness in the husband
for him to dwell constantly upon his position as head of the
family. . . . Let every husband who claims to love God care-
fully study the requirements of God in his position. Christ's
authority is exercised in wisdom, in all kindness and gentleness;
so let the husband exercise his power and imitate the great
Head of the church."—The
Adventist Home,
page 215.
Note the value the wise man places upon an able wife: "A
rare find is an able wife—she is worth far more than rubies!
Her husband may depend on her, and never lose by that; she
brings him profit and no loss, from first to last." "Her sons
congratulate her, and thus her husband praises her: 'Many a
woman does nobly, but you far outdo them all!' Charms may
wane and beauty wither, keep your praise for a wife with
brains; give her due credit for her deeds, praise her in public
for her services." Prov. 31:10-12, 28-30, Moffatt.
The successful wife will observe these ideas thoughtfully:
"Married life is not all romance; it has its real difficulties and
its homely details. The wife must not consider herself a doll,
to be tended, but a woman; one to put her shoulder under real,
not imaginary, burdens, and live an understanding, thoughtful
life, considering that there are other things to be thought of
than herself."—The
Adventist Home,
pages 110, 111.
And children are the special treasure of the home. See Ps.
128:3.
"Children and youth are God's peculiar treasure."—/bid.,
p. 280.
"When two compose a family, . . . and there are no children
to call into exercise patience, forbearance, and true love, there
is need of constant watchfulness lest selfishness obtain the
supremacy, lest you yourselves become the center, and you
require attention, care, and interest, which you feel under no
obligation to bestow upon
others."—Testimonies,
Vol. 2, p. 231.
If a home is truly Christian, it will be a center of health
and happiness—a glad and glorious place where angels will
dwell and from which will radiate light to break the spell of
darkness in the world.
What is to be the relationship of husband and wife
in marriage?
How can we account for the distance between some
youth today and their parents and their parents' religion?
Does this bear any relationship to the degree in which
the parents have failed to follow the Lord's plan for a
happy home? Are the youth to blame for the generation
gap?
91
Health and Family Life
LESSON 11
December 12
Part 7
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
1. True or False:
a.
The Eden home of our first parents was to be an ex-
ample of what every home should be.
b.
God made the city; man made the country
c.
Broken homes often cause broken health
d.
Many divorces are the fruitage of selfishness and hard-
heartedness
2. True or False :
a.
Jesus performed His first miracle in a synagogue
b.
Marriage is a symbol of the union between Christ and
His people
c.
The main goal of marriage is "to have each other "
d.
The condition of our society reflects the state of our
homes
3. Complete:
a.
"It was not God's purpose that
should
be
into
, huddled together in
and
1)
b.
"The physical surroundings in the
are
of ten a
to
),
c.
"Many present-day evils are the direct result of the
unnatural
together of human beings
into great
4. Itemize a few of the careful considerations to be taken
into account in a move from the city to the country.
5. Name one important factor contributing to good relation-
ships between husband and wife
6. True or False:
a.
The husband should be sure that his wife never for-
gets who is the head of the house!
b.
The happiness of the family depends much upon the
wife and mother.
c.
Marriage is all romance!
d.
The best way to encourage respect for parents is to give
the children larger allowances.
ANSWERS:
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*a !mu; •q !asp; •e (g) •Alingepcluxo3 snoglgai (g) •stuamoid pnei; 'sa2aunpd ppozps `Apadcuci
'ItzauzAoldwa (t) •sapp Tulaaqp2
'3
!topaq 'pad 'sam3
!s4uatuaua; `saaelial 'ram, 'papev,on
'Woad *u (E) 'anal
.13 :asp;
*a :anal •q !asp; •R (E) -am;
:anal
'3
!asp; •q :anal a (j)
92
December 19
THE HOME AND CHILD GUIDANCE
12
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not
depart from it." Prov. 22:6.
The greatest of all educational agencies
is the home. Arthur W. Spalding asks the
question, "What is or what has been the
greatest school in the world? The Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology? The
University of Oxford? The College of the
Propaganda? The Lyceum of Athens?
"Who is the most important teacher in
the world? The man who can write a dozen
letters after his name? The chancellor of
a wide-spreading university? The author
of a hundred textbooks? The philosopher
who leads a school of thought? The coach
of a bone-smashing athletic team? . . .
"The greatest school in the world is the
home. The most important teachers are the
parents of the child. The highest aim is to
develop in the human soul the likeness of
our common Father, our Creator, God."
—Christ's Last Legion,
page 187.
This same author laments the fact that
"of all schools and of all teachers, the home
and the parents have received the least con-
structive efforts for their making and train-
ing."—Ibid.,
p. 189.
Parents are "criticized and lectured and
blamed for the ills of society; but criticism
without help is destructive. What is needed
is a well-conceived, systematic, persistent
program of training parents."—Ibid.
This lesson deals with the home and its
potential value as a school where children
may learn from well-trained parents proper
health and moral lessons. The result? A
power that can permeate a total society for
good.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Power of Parental Example
Gen. 18:19
2.
Don't Discourage Your Children
Eph. 6:4
3.
Power of Prenatal Influence
Judges 13:4
4.
John the Baptist's Parents
Luke 1:15
5.
Diet and Character Development
Prov. 26:2
6.
Parental Love and Concern
Ezek. 16:44
93
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Sunday
December 13
Part 1
"For I know him, that he will command his children
POWER OF and his household after him, and they shall keep the
PARENTAL way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the
EXAMPLE Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken
Gen. 18:19 of him."
"God could trust Abraham, for he would 'command' his
family, not by dictatorial methods, but by clear precept and
consistent example. In training children, every word, look, and
act has its effect. In many homes, there is little training by way
of either instruction or example. Parents are held accountable
for the sacred trust of children and should therefore combine
firmness with love, as did Abraham. This task of training up
children in the way they should go cannot be delegated to
another, custodian or teacher, without grave danger of loss.
The influence of godly teachers should not be expected to sup-
plant, but rather to supplement, home training. Each has its
place, and is incomplete without the help of the other to aid
and reinforce
it."—SDA Bible Commentary,
on Gen. 18:19.
The great power of influence is inherent in the life of every
parent. Read these texts to see how influence weighs upon all
we touch with our lives: 1 Tim. 4:12; Phil. 4:9; Titus 2:7;
1 Cor. 5:6; 8:9, 13.
Ellen White wrote to a man and his wife these words: "You
both need home piety, sweet, satisfied contentment, without
faultfinding, pettishness, scolding, or severity. Let kindness and
love be the rule of your household. Whoever does not let the
light of truth shine in his home dishonors the Saviour."—Testi-
monies,
Vol. 5, p. 568.
In another place she said: "Every influence surrounding the
youth needs to be on the right side, for youthful depravity is
increasing."—Child
Guidance,
page 325.
Youth lose confidence in God, the church, the whole "estab-
lishment," when the parents let them down. Much of the rebel-
lion among youth today is a protest against inconsistency.
How did the Lord express His confidence in the patri-
arch Abraham?
THINK IT THROUGH
No one can live to himself or die to himself. The big
responsibility and obligation that rests upon all of us in
this life is to exert right influences, especially in the home.
How well are you doing? Now is the time to redeem the
time.
"What example do you give your above everything else, to respect reli-
children? What order do you have at gious things and feel the importance
home? Your children should be
edu-
of the claims of God."—"Child Guid-
cated to be kind, thoughtful of others, ance," page 498. See also page 237.
gentle, easy to be entreated, and,
94
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Monday
December 14
Part 2
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:
DON'T DISCOURAGE but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
YOUR CHILDREN Lord."
"Fathers, don't overcorrect your children or make it
difficult for them to obey the commandment. Bring them
up with Christian teaching in Christian discipline." Phil-
Eph. 6:4
lips.
Read Col. 3:20.
"The father should enforce in his family the sterner virtues
—energy, integrity, honesty, patience, courage, diligence, and
practical usefulness. And what he requires of his children he
himself should practice, illustrating these virtues in his own
manly bearing.
"But, fathers, do not discourage your children. Combine
affection with authority, kindness and sympathy with firm
restraint. Give some of your leisure hours to your children;
become acquainted with them; associate with them in their
work and in their sports, and win their confidence. Cultivate
friendship with them, especially with your sons. In this way
you will be a strong influence for good."—The
Ministry of
Healing,
pages 391, 392.
The father should be the religious leader in the family, un-
ashamed and open in his faith in God and his love for Jesus
Christ. In •this way an image of benevolent authority is created
that will teach his children wholesome respect for God and all
who occupy positions of influence. This image will do much to
safeguard the home and society from crime. Millions of boys
long for such a father image but do not see it at home. These
boys are most likely to become criminals.
The father's spiritual leadership is basic. He cannot shift
this burden to his wife.
"The father should do his part toward making home happy.
Whatever his cares and business perplexities, they should not
be permitted to overshadow his family; he should enter his
home with smiles and pleasant words.
"In a sense the father is the priest of the household, laying
upon the family altar the morning and evening sacrifice. But
the wife and children should unite in prayer and join in the
song of praise. In the morning before he leaves home for his
daily labor, let the father gather his children about him and,
bowing before God, commit them to the care of the Father in
heaven. When the cares of the day are past, let the family
unite in offering grateful prayer and raising the song of praise,
in acknowledgement of divine care during the
day."—Ibid.,
pp. 392, 393.
How can a father discourage his children?
THINK IT THROUGH
The body is dead without breath. Home religion is
dead without spirit and love and affection. The letter
kills. The spirit gives life. Affection and authority go to-
gether. So do kindness and restraint.
95
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Tuesday
December 15
Part 3
"Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not
POWER OF wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing."
PRENATAL
INFLUENCE
Read verses 1-14.
Judges 13:4
The word of the Lord to Manoah's wife concerning a son
to be born to her was specific. She was to practice temperance
and restraint in her diet while carrying her unborn child.
When Manoah and his wife heard the angel's message, they
prayed this prayer: "Teach us what we shall do unto the child
that shall be born." Verse 8. When the angel appeared to •them,
Manoah asked, "How shall we order the child, and how shall
we do unto him?" Verse 12. Their questions might well be
asked by all modern parents.
"Not only the habits of the mother, but the training of the
child were included in the angel's instruction to the Hebrew
parents. It was not enough that Samson, the child who was to
deliver Israel, should have a good legacy at his birth. This was
to be followed by careful training. From infancy he was to be
trained to habits of strict temperance."—The
Ministry of Heal-
ing,
page 379.
"The carefulness with which the mother should guard her
habits of life is taught in the Scriptures.
"The reform should begin with the mother before the birth
of her children; and if God's instructions were faithfully
obeyed, intemperance would not
exist."—Child Guidance,
page
407.
Prenatal influence is not the same thing as inheritance of
traits of character through the genes. It is the influence directly
of all of the habits of the mother upon her unborn child during
her pregnancy. Physicians today recognize this influence as a
potent force in the new life for good or ill.
Wrote Dr. Ashley Montague: "All this is not to say that
every mother who is emotionally disturbed during pregnancy
will give birth to a neurotic baby. Nor does it mean that every
baby with intestinal disturbances or other symptoms mentioned
is neurotic. The existence of a physical cause for a baby's trou-
ble must always be thoroughly considered.
"However, there is now sufficient evidence from many sources
to indicate that the unborn child can be variously affected by
physical changes in the mother, and that although a woman
cannot 'mark' her baby by seeing something unpleasant before
he is born, nor make him a poet by reading Keats and Shelley
during her pregnancy, there are ways in which she definitely
can influence his behavior pattern. It is largely up to her, and
to those surrounding her during her pregnancy, whether her
infant will be born a happy, healthy, sweet-tempered individual
or an ill-adjusted neurotic."—Ladies'
Home Journal,
February,
1954, page 43.
What instruction did the Lord give to Manoah's wife?
Does the father's influence figure at all in the life of
the unborn? How can he contribute to his wife's happiness
during this period?
THINK IT THROUGH
96
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Thursday
December 16
Part 4
"For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and
JOHN THE BAPTIST'S shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall
PARENTS be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's
Luke 1:15 womb."
Read verses 5-15.
THINK IT THROUGH
Instruction was given to Zacharias and Elisabeth in regard
to the habits of the son to be born to them in their old age.
The parents of John the Baptist were obedient to the Lord's
instruction concerning John.
"The work committed to him [John] was one demanding
not only physical energy and endurance, but the highest quali-
ties of mind and soul. So important was right physical train-
ing as a preparation for this work that the highest angel in
heaven was sent with a message of instruction to the parents
of the child."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 379.
"Nothing which affects the child's physical well-being is to
be neglected. Nothing is unimportant. Every influence that
affects the health of the body has its bearing upon mind and
character."—/bid., p. 380.
The
early
years in training children are far more important
to the future years than the college years or any time spent
in gaining a formal education in the best of schools.
"Too much importance cannot be placed upon the early
training of children. The lessons learned, the habits formed,
during the years of infancy and childhood, have more to do
with the formation of the character and the direction of the
life than have all the instruction and training of afteryears.
"Parents need to consider this. They should understand the
principles that underlie the care and training of children. They
should be capable of rearing them in physical, mental, and
moral health. Parents should study the laws of nature. They
should become acquainted with the organism of the human
body. They need to understand the functions of the various
organs, and their relation and dependence. They should study
the relation of the mental to the physical powers, and the
conditions required for the healthy action of each.
To assume
the responsibilities of parenthood without such preparation is
a sin.
"Far too little thought is given to the causes underlying the
mortality, the disease and degeneracy, that exist today even in
the most civilized and favored lands."—Ibid., p. 380. (Italics
supplied.)
What were to be the habits of the child born to Elisa-
beth, wife of Zacharias?
Why is it "a sin" to assume the responsibilities of
parenthood without adequate preparation? Why do some
husbands and wives give verbal consent to this matter
and drop it there? Who is ready to be a parent when the
first child is born?
97
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Part 5
DIET AND
CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENT
Prov. 26:2
Wednesday
December 17
"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying,
so the curse causeless shall not come."
An area of child training often neglected is teaching children
the control of their appetites and fancies.
"Parents should train the appetites of their children and
should not permit •the use of unwholesome foods. But in the
effort to regulate the diet, we should be careful not to err in
requiring children to eat that which is distasteful, or •to eat
more than is needed. Children have rights, they have prefer-
ences, and when these preferences are reasonable they should
be respected.
"Regularity in eating should be carefully observed. Nothing
should be eaten between meals, no confectionery, nuts, fruits,
or food of any kind. Irregularities in eating destroy the health-
ful tone of the digestive organs, to the detriment of health and
cheerfulness. And when •the children come to the table, they
do not relish wholesome food; their appetites crave that which
is hurtful for them.
"Mothers who gratify the desires of their children at the
expense of health and happy tempers, are sowing seeds of evil
that will spring up and bear fruit."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 384.
The wise man wrote of the law of cause and effect as fol-
lows: "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so
the curse causeless shall not come." Prov. 26:2. The sparrow
has a reason for the way he flutters and the swallow for flying
as he does; so any malediction that appears is the result of a
provoking cause.
Ellen White wrote that "nine tenths of the wickedness among
the children of today is caused by intemperance in eat-
ing and
drinking."—Temperance,
page 150. She also declared,
"The diet materially affects the mind and disposition."—The
Adventist Home,
page 252.
There are scientific evidences now coming to light which
support the correlation of certain diet practices to moral de-
linquency and behavior patterns.
Why do sorrows and troubles come to man?
THINK IT THROUGH
What can fathers and mothers do in their own homes
to halt the tide of crime sweeping across the nation?
Upset stomachs! Empty stomachs! Full stomachs! Dis-
eased stomachs! How do these physical conditions affect
the brain? the will? the character? the affections?
"Many of the youth of this genera-
tion, in the midst of churches, religious
institutions, and professedly Christian
homes, are choosing the path to destruc-
tion. Through intemperate habits they
bring upon themselves disease, and
through greed to obtain money for sin-
ful indulgences they fall into dishonest
98
practices. Health and character are
ruined." —"Testimonies," Vol. 6, p. 254.
"Wrong habits of eating and the use
of unhealthful food are in no small
degree responsible for the intemper-
ance and crime and wretchedness that
curse the world."—"The Ministry of
Healing," page 146.
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
Friday
December 18
"Behold, everyone that useth proverbs shall use this
proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her
daughter."
Read Hos. 4:9; Prov. 22:24, 25.
In ancient times this parable was used sneeringly by the
Lord's enemies to humiliate the Israelites. The parable has
truth in it. As is the
cause,
so is the
effect.
An old proverb goes:
"As is the breeding, so is the practice." Another says: "You
cannot make a velvet purse out of a sow's ear." Such old prov-
erbs show the necessity of early holy precepts supported by
suitable example.
Parents who love their children will amend their own ways.
Since the parents illustrate God to their offspring, how impor-
tant that they keep this holy pattern ever before them!
-
'S Concerned parents with minds transformed by the Holy
Spirit will resist this world's pleasuies and seek to survive its
pressures, and they will work for the health and spiritual wel-
fare of their families.
Concern will express itself in a practical way-
1.
By teaching helpfulness and responsibility.
"Very early
the lesson of helpfulness should be taught the child. As soon
as strength and reasoning power are sufficiently developed, he
should be given duties to perform in the home. He should be
encouraged . . . to put others' happiness and convenience be-
fore his
own."—The Ministry of Healing,
page 401. See also
page 394.
2.
In calm and firm discipline.
3.
In worship patterns that will link the hearts of the chil-
dren with the parents and with God.
4.
In a life lived for the children as the parents' first respon-
sibility.
"Parents should live more for their children, and less
for society. Study health subjects, and put your knowledge to
a practical
use."—Ibid.,
p. 386.
5.
In practicing self-denial and self-control.
Is the influence of mothers felt by the children?
Concern! We hear much about it today. Where should
concern begin? How many should be concerned and in-
volved with family life? Who are to be responsible for
the behavior of children and youth?
Part 6
PARENTAL LOVE
AND CONCERN
Ezek. 16:44
THINK IT THROUGH
"Let there be singing in the home, of
songs that are sweet and pure, and
there will be fewer words of censure
and more of cheerfulness and hope and
joy.. . . Song is a weapon that we can
always use against discouragement.
The voice of thanksgiving, praise, and
rejoicing is heard in heaven. The voices
of the angels in heaven unite with the
voices of the children of God on earth
as they ascribe honor and glory and
praise to God and to the Lamb for the
great salvation provided. Let us learn
the song of the angels now, that we
may sing it when we join their shining
ranks."—"The Faith I Live By," page
273.
99
The Home and Child Guidance
LESSON 12
December 19
Part 7
SUMMARY
QUESTIONS
1. Why did the Lord bless Abraham so abundantly?
2. True or False:
a.
The father should combine affection with au-
thority, kindness with restraint
b.
Since the father is busy making the living for
the family he should not be expected to add
much to the happiness of the home
c.
The mother should always lead out in family
worship
3. Complete:
a.
"Reform should begin
the
of her children."
b.
"If God's
were faithfully
would not exist."
4. True or False:
a.
Much credit must be given to the parents of John
the Baptist for his success in life.
b.
Zacharias and Elisabeth were too old to train
young John for his special work
c.
John took a little wine occasionally to brace him-
self for his arduous work
5. Comment on this statement: Growing children
should not be restrained at the table or at play. Let
their natural instincts develop without hindrance and
eventually they will grow into young men and women
of character
6. Name at least three areas of vital parental concern :
1
2
3
ANSWERS:
loiwoo-nas pue leJuap-llas Jo aap
-avid `Autpsuodsai ;sig se uaspipp tiwa °an o; swaied `sulaped duisionn `aulidpslp wag pue rules
'A4mcpsuodsai pue ssaumdlaq (g) luatuuszo (g) *age; .3 :asp; •cl !an.i; -e
(b)
•a3uriacituaJuJ •paeiago
'suopon.nstu •ci !twig 'aioJaq a (g)
-
asp;
.
3
!asp; q :atuJ *a (z) •tuetleicw ;mu; p/1103 au (I)
100
LESSON 13
December
26
SOURCE OF HEALING POWER
13
"If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do
that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep
all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee." Ex. 15:26.
In the healing of the sick there should
first come instruction, the teaching of health
principles. Next, compliance with this infor-
mation, with natural law. Third, the bless-
ing of God in actual healing and restoration.
"It is labor lost to teach people to look
to God as a healer of their infirmities, unless
they are taught also to lay aside unhealth-
ful practices."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 227.
"Christ's servants are the channel of His
working, and through them He desires to
exercise His healing power. It is our work
to present the sick and suffering to God in
the arms of our faith. We should teach
them to believe in the Great Healer.
"The Saviour would have us encourage
the sick, the hopeless, the afflicted, to take
hold upon His strength. Through faith and
prayer the sickroom may be transformed
into a Bethel. . . .
"And God hears prayer. Christ has said,
`If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will
do it.'
"—Ibid.,
p. 226.
LESSON OUTLINE
1.
Christ, the Healer
Ex. 15:26
2.
Still the Healing Christ
Heb. 13:8; Mal. 3:6
3.
Healing and Restoration Today
James 5:14, 15
4.
Use Available Remedies
Isa. 38:21
5.
Obedience to Natural Law
Jer. 7:23
6.
False Healers Today
Matt. 24:24
101
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Sunday
December 20
Part 1
"I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I
CHRIST, THE HEALER have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that
Ex. 15:26 healeth thee."
Read Ps. 107:17-21.
THINK IT THROUGH
The Lord described Himself to Moses as "the Lord that
healeth thee."
"The Egyptian physicians were famous all over the ancient
Near East, but extant texts show that they did not consider
the power of healing to be their own, but their gods'. In their
medical handbooks, . . . diseases are divided into three classes:
(1) those that can be treated; (2) those that can be arrested;
(3) those that cannot be cured. Though medical science has
advanced tremendously since the days of Moses, the above
classification still stands. The surgeon can make an incision,
remove an organ, and sew up the wound, but he cannot heal
it. The physician can administer certain drugs, which he knows
to have certain effects on certain ailments, but there his skill
ends. The actual healing process is performed by a power over
which human science has no control. It is still true in the 20th
century as it was in the time of Moses that God alone imparts
healing. He is the Master Physician."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on Ex. 15:26.
The psalmist expressed confidence in the Lord's healing
power. "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul: and all that is within me,
bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and forget not
all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth
all thy diseases." Ps. 103:1-3.
When Jesus came to earth, the work of mercy that He
undertook was to teach and heal. See Matt. 9:35; Acts 10:38.
The Healer of Moses' time and of David's was the Healer of
John's time and of Paul's.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied
servant of man's necessity. He 'took our infirmities, and bare
our sicknesses,' that He might minister to every need of hu-
manity. . . . The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin
He came to remove. It was His mission to bring to men com-
plete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and
perfection of character."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 17.
How did the Lord describe Himself to Moses?
Why cannot the sick be restored apart from the divine
healing? With all the scientific knowledge of modern med-
icine, is it not possible for man to heal himself?
"During His ministry, Jesus devoted
more time to healing the sick than to
preaching. His miracles testified to the
truth of His words, that He came not to
destroy, but to save. Wherever He went,
the tidings of His mercy preceded Him.
Where He had passed, the objects of
102
His compassion were rejoicing in health
and making trial of their new-found
powers. . . . As He passed through the
towns and cities He was like a vital
current, diffusing life and joy."—"Ibid.,"
pp. 19, 20.
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Monday
December 21
Part 2
STILL THE
HEALING CHRIST
Heb. 13:8
Mal. 3:6
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for-
ever."
For I am the Lord, I change not."
He is the same in His power, His life, His authority, His
love, His purposes, His tender regard for poor, weak humanity.
"Jesus Christ is the same today that He was yesterday, and
He will be so forever." Heb. 13:8, Goodspeed. This means that
He still hears the prayers of the sick and discouraged ones. And
that He still heals!
"God is just as willing to restore the sick to health now as
when the Holy Spirit spoke these words through the psalmist.
[Ps. 103:13, 14; 107:17-20.] And Christ is the same compas-
sionate physician now that He was during His earthly ministry.
In Him there is healing balm for every disease, restoring power
for every infirmity. His disciples in this time are •to pray for
the sick as verily as the disciples of old prayed. And recoveries
will follow; for 'the prayer of faith shall save the sick.' We
have the Holy Spirit's power, the calm assurance of faith, that
can claim God's promises. The Lord's promise, 'They shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover' (Mark 16:18), is just
as trustworthy now as in the days of the apostles. It presents
the privilege of God's children, and our faith should lay bold
of all that it embraces."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 226.
In Takoma Park, Maryland, a man dying of terminal cancer
requested three of our ministers to pray for his healing. One of
of the preachers read to him the promise of James 5:14, 15. He
asked that he be anointed with oil in harmony with the divine
instruction. All was quiet and still as God's work of restoration
began, but in three weeks he was well and back on the job at
the Pentagon, where he served as an auditor. He lived many
years afterward. He gave God the glory for the healing and
never doubted that he had been the object of a special act of
divine mercy.
What fact about God should give to us all assurance?
THINK IT THROUGH
We have all known sick people who in faith sought
the Lord for healing but were not restored. Were these
people less righteous than the Takoma Park auditor? Is
God partial? Why are some people healed and others
permitted to die?
"Christ in
His life on earth made no
plans for Himself. He accepted God's
plans for Him, and day by day the
Father unfolded His plans. So should
we depend upon God, that our lives
may be the simple outworking of His
will. As we commit our ways to Him,
He will direct our steps. . . .
"God never leads His children other-
wise than they would choose to be led,
if they could see the end from the be-
ginning and discern the glory of the
purpose which they are fulfilling as
co-workers with Him."—"Ibid.," p. 479.
103
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Tuesday
December 22
Part 3
HEALING AND
RESTORATION
TODAY
James 5:14, 15
THINK IT THROUGH
104
"Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of
the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and
if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."
Read John 14:13-15; 15:7; James 5:16.
In the New Testament is a command and promise (James
5:14, 15) which must be followed carefully if we expect to see
the sick restored to health. Bizarre methods employed by fake
"healers" will allow for Satan to work fake cures, but there is
no healing life for the sick—no permanent restoration.
"Christ's servants are the channel of His working, and
through them He desires to exercise His healing power. It is
our work to present the sick and suffering to God in the arms
of our faith. We should teach them to believe in the Great
Healer."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 226.
Sins Confessed and Surrendered.
There are conditions given
for answered prayer as the psalmist indicated: "If I regard
iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Ps. 66:18.
"To those who desire prayer for their restoration to health,
it should be made plain that the violation of God's law, either
natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to receive
His blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken....
"When wrongs have been righted, we may present the needs
of the sick to the Lord in calm faith, as His Spirit may indi-
cate. He knows each individual by name, and cares for each
as if there were not another upon the earth for whom He gave
His beloved
Son."—The Ministry of Healing,
pages 228, 229.
An Attitude of Faith.
An attitude of faith and trust must
be assumed in prayer. Note the following by Ellen White: "A
case was held up before me of a . . . minister; eighty miles he
was sent for, to pray for a sick sister who sent for him in com-
pliance with the teaching of James. He went and prayed in
earnest, and she prayed; she believed the minister to be a man
of God, a man of faith. Physicians had given her up to die of
consumption. She was healed immediately. She arose and pre-
pared supper, a thing she had not done for ten years. Now the
minister was vile, his life was corrupt, and yet here was a great
work. He took the glory all to himself.
"Then again the scene mentioned above passed before me.
I saw that the woman was a true disciple of Christ; her faith
was that she should be healed."—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible Commentary,
Vol. 7, p. 939.
"In prayer for the sick it should be remembered that 'we
know not what we should pray for as we ought.' Rom. 8:26.
We do not know whether the blessing we desire will be best
or not."—The
Ministry of Healing,
page 229.
Should we defer prayer for the sick because we may
not have confidence in the participants? Does God honor
His word? To whom shall we go if not to the Great
Healer? Is James 5:14, 15 valid today?
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Wednesday
December 23
What was King Hezekiah told to do when he sought healing
from a dangerous infection? He was to use the best remedy
available to him.
"The Lord might have healed Hezekiah without the use of
this poultice, but where natural remedies exist God intends that
they should be used in the healing of disease. To use them does
not show a lack of faith ; on the contrary, a refusal to do so is
presumption and reveals a lack of sound judgment."—SDA
Bible Commentary,
on Isa. 38:21.
"We have the sanction of the Word of God for the use of
remedial agencies. Hezekiah, king of Israel, was sick, and a
prophet of God brought him the message that he should die.
He cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard His servant, and
sent him a message that fifteen years should be added to his
life. Now, one word from God would have healed Hezekiah
instantly ; but special directions were given, 'Let them take a
lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall
recover.' ...
"On one occasion Christ anointed the eyes of a blind man
with clay and bade him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. . . .
He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.'
. . . The cure could be wrought only by the power of the Great
Healer, yet Christ made use of the simple agencies of nature."
—The Ministry of Healing,
pages 232, 233.
What was Hezekiah bidden to do while suffering from
an eruption?
Of what value are figs in combating infection? Sup-
pose Hezekiah had questioned the procedure. Was there
real healing power in the fig poultice? In any case, who
did the healing?
Part 4
"For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and.
USE AVAILABLE lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover."
REMEDIES
Isa. 38:21
THINK IT THROUGH
"It is not a denial of faith to use
such remedies as God has provided to
alleviate pain and to aid nature in her
work of restoration. It is no denial of
faith to cooperate with God, and to
place themselves in the condition most
favorable to recovery. . . . When we
have prayed for the recovery of the
sick, we can work with all the more
energy, thanking God that we have the
privilege of cooperating with Him, and
asking His blessing on the means which
He Himself has provided."—"Ibid.," pp.
231, 232.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: See "Selected
Messages," Bk. 2, pp. 276-303, where
Ellen White discusses remedial agen-
cies and the use of drugs.
105
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Thursday
December 24
Part 5
OBEDIENCE TO
NATURAL LAW
Jer. 7:23
THINK IT THROUGH
"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My
voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people:
and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you,
that it may be well unto you."
What is one of the characteristics of God's faithful ones in
every age? Obedience to the Lord's commands.
Note the potential of health and growth found in every per-
son who obeys God and uses his mental and physical powers
wisely:
"Every man has the opportunity, to a great extent, of mak-
ing himself whatever he chooses to be. The blessings of this
life, and also of the immortal state, are within his reach. He
may build up a character of solid worth, gaining new strength
at every step. He may advance daily in knowledge and wisdom,
conscious of new delights as he progresses, adding virtue to vir-
tue, grace to grace. His faculties will improve by use; the more
wisdom he gains, the greater will be his capacity for acquiring.
His intelligence, knowledge, and virtue will thus develop into
greater strength and more perfect
symmetry."—Counsels on
Health,
pages 107, 108.
"To keep the body in a healthy condition, in order that all
parts of the living machinery may act harmoniously, should be
a study of our life. The children of God cannot glorify Him
with sickly bodies or dwarfed minds. Those who indulge in
any species of intemperance, either in eating or drinking, waste
their physical energies and weaken moral
power."—Counsels
on Diet and Foods,
page 18.
"Since the laws of nature are the laws of God, it is plainly
our duty to give these laws careful study. We should study
their requirements in regard to our own bodies and conform
to them. Ignorance in these things is
sin."—Testimonies,
Vol.
6, p. 369.
What promise is made to those who obey the Lord?
Is not ignorance of natural law a sin? Sickness results
because someone—we, our parents, or our ancestors—
violated natural law. Is it not then our duty to help our-
selves as much as possible by obeying the laws of health?
May not every case of sickness be a subject of prayer?
If not, why not?
"Disease never comes without a
cause. The way is prepared, and dis-
ease invited, by disregard of the laws
of health. Many suffer in consequence
of the transgression of their parents.
While they are not responsible for what
their parents have done, it is neverthe-
106
less their duty to ascertain what are
and what are not violations of the laws
of health. They should avoid the wrong
habits of their parents and, by correct
living, place themselves in better con-
ditions."—"The Ministry of Healing,"
page 234.
Source of Healing Power
LESSON 13
Friday
December 25
Part 6
"For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets,
FALSE HEALERS and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that,
TODAY if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
Matt. 24:24
Read 2 Thess. 2:8-12.
One sign of the times that is to precede the second advent
is the appearance of false healers and false christs. We have
this prophetic word that these healers will display "wonderful
signs" (Weymouth), "miracles and portents" (Rieu).
"Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles.
They will make people sick by casting their spell upon them,
and will then remove the spell, leading others to say that those
who were sick have been miraculously healed. This Satan has
done again and again."—Ellen G. White Comments,
SDA Bible
Commentary,
Vol. 7, p. 939. See also
The Great Controversy,
page 464.
Then there are the cranks and the charlatans of whom there
were many in Bible times as well as today. See Ps. 101:7;
120:2 ; 144:11; Prov. 6:12-14. Even in our own church we
have had in the past self-appointed physicians who boasted of
their knowledge and ability to treat disease.
The third angel's message is to be given to the world by an
intelligent people who serve God from principle and who live
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
Motivated by the love of Christ, their zeal grows as their
knowledge increases and they labor to make more and more
disciples for the Lord.
"The evangelization of the world is the work that God has
given to those who go forth in His name. They are to be co-
laborers with Christ, revealing to those ready to perish His
tender, pitying love. God calls for thousands to work for Him,
not by preaching to those who know the truth, going over and
over the same ground, but by warning those who have never
heard the last message of mercy. Work, with a heart filled with
an earnest longing for souls. Do medical missionary work. Thus
you will gain access to the hearts of the people. The way will
be prepared for more decided proclamation of the truth. You
will find that relieving their physical suffering gives you oppor-
tunity to minister to their spiritual needs.
"The Lord will give you success in this work; for the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation when it is interwoven
with the practical life, when it is lived and practiced. The union
of Christlike work for the body and Christlike work for the
soul is the true interpretation of the gospel."—My
Life Today,
page 224.
In the process of saving the lost, Seventh-day Adventists
become a restored and sanctified people in body, mind, and
spirit. Christlike—a people who have been made whole by His
grace and power—these people who believe and practice the
third angel's message Christ will take to heaven with Him when
_He comes again.
107
80 L
(1) a. health; b. peace; c. perfection of character. (2) a. today, yesterday, forever; b. now, was,
earthly. (3) violation of natural or spiritual law must be stopped; sins must be confessed and for-
saken, wrongs righted; God's will instead of our own must be sought; we must have faith.
(4)
a. false; b. true; c. true. (5) laws, nature, laws, God, duty, careful study, study, own bodies, con-
form. (6) a. false faith healers or charlatans, cranks or false health-reform physicians; b. intelligent
people who serve God from principle and live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Word
of God.
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Watch for it - January, 1971
Thirteenth Sabbath Offering
DECEMBER 19, 1970 • INTER-AMERICAN DIVISION
The Inter-American Division, with its 255,385 members, be-
lieves in Christian education. Because the church membership has
increased by more than 100,000 in the last decade there are now
about 35,000 students enrolled in our schools throughout the divi-
sion. Thousands more are "outside" waiting to get in. For each
child or youth in our schools there are three others who need to be
preparing their lives for the service of the Lord.
The Inter-American Division has plans for these "outsiders."
These plans will make room for many of these students to be in
our own schools. Inter-America has twenty-seven boarding schools.
The Thirteenth Sabbath Offering overflow is destined to help three
training centers:
1.
The men's dormitory at Antillian College will be enlarged.
2.
A library will be built at Dominican Academy.
3.
A brand-new boarding academy will be constructed on the
island of Martinique.
Besides this, an evangelistic center is badly needed in Pointe-a-
Pitre, Guadeloupe.
These four projects will benefit by your generous offering at this
Christmas season.
Lessons for the First Quarter of 1971
Sabbath School members who have not received a senior
Lesson Quarterly
for the first quarter of 1971 will be helped
by the following outline in studying for the first lesson. The
title of the series is "Christian Social Behavior." The title
of the first lesson is "The Godhead: The Ideal Relationship."
The memory verse is 2 Corinthians 5:19.
The outline is as follows: 1. The Eternal Fellowship of the
Godhead. John 17:5, 22. 2. God's Concern for All Creation.
Ps. 145:17-20. 3. God's Concern for Man. Matt. 7:7-11. 4.
God Relates to a Person in Need—Hagar. Gen. 21:17-20.
5. God Relates to a Person in Need—An Adulteress. John
8:10, 11. 6. Imitation of Ideal Relationship. Phil. 1:3-7.
LITHO IN U.S.A.
INTER-AMERICAN DIVISION
's
December 19. 1970 4."
Thirteenth Sabbath
. ,
FRENCti:
GUIANA
-
Church
Sab. Sch.
Unions
Population
Churches
Members
Members
AntiHien Union M.
• 6,600,000
203
22,997
29,708
Caribbean U. C.
2,644,556
266
32,841
32,178
Cen. American U. M. 15,869,593
230
27,136
29,490
Col.-Venezuela U. M. 30,364,745
176
34,268
41,872
Cuban Church'
7,630,700
107
6,957
8,250
Franco-Haitian U. M. 5,255,000
135
35,760
53,310
Mexican Union M.
47,609,432
248
42,639
62,369
West Indies U. M.
2,041,314
383
52,787
52,614
Division Totals
118,015,340
1,748
255,385
309,791